The Touches You Leave
by weareevilregals
Summary: Regina moves to Storybrooke in the middle of her senior year of high school. For one of her assignments, she's tasked with finding out one of the towns biggest secrets. On the way, she meets a strange blonde, who will forever turn her world upside down and there's nothing she can do about it.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **Hey guys! So here's a little something I've been working on all summer. It was part of the Swan Queen Big Bang ( .com). I suggest checking out the beautiful art done by Jayke over on my ao3 account, the username is the same! I hope you all enjoy the story and please, comment/review if you like!

* * *

Life in Storybrooke, Maine was a dull and dreary thing. Regina could already tell that nothing exciting ever happened in this tiny town. A multi-colored row of small cottages passed by in a blur, unnoticed by the brunette, as the lone black Mercedes drove down the quiet street. The car slowed as the driver turned onto a different street, waking Regina from her reverie. Her eyes focused on the foreign houses before coming to land on the old Victorian two-story that loomed above her. The Mercedes pulled into the driveway and stopped abruptly.

A sharp knock against the window brought the girl to her senses once again, her body jolting in surprise. She stepped out of the car just in time to see the bright orange and white moving van pull in behind the car. She turned away from the van to stare back up at the house. It was by no means a mansion, but it was bigger than what the girl's family needed. The white walls were in need of a new coat of paint and a few of the dark window shutters were starting to fall but, other than that, the new home seemed relatively comfortable. In the front yard, an old oak tree supported a wooden swing that swayed gently in the breeze and the girl wondered how long that would last before it was removed.

Her feet led her up the creaking steps of the front porch and through the whining screen door and brought her into the foyer. The bare walls were faded but the brunette didn't seem to notice. She continued her journey down the main hallway, passing several doors before she came to a set of stairs. Fingers glided along the smooth wood as she climbed the steps to the second floor. Walking down the new hallway, she made her way down to the last door on the left and let herself into the room. The girl moved to the center, turning in a circle and taking the whole sight in, memorizing it. The dark chestnut wood floors groaned under her weight as she twisted her body to gaze at the large bay window. Something about this room called out to her; like a soft sigh caught on the tendrils of a breeze.

"Regina," a voice broke the trance-like state the girl had been in and she turned back towards the bedroom door. "Why are you not downstairs helping with the boxes? Get your things and start unpacking. I expect your room to be spotless by tomorrow."

"Yes, Mother" Regina politely answered but Cora, her mother, was already gone, her heels could be heard clacking back down the steps, presumably to go manage the movers and to make sure they didn't damage any of her precious cargo. Regina took one last look at the room, still unsure as to what was making her feel… off, before exiting herself.

Several curses and many stubbed toes later, most of her furniture was now installed. Boxes filled most of the large room and Regina sat on her bare mattress, unsure of where to even begin. It was one thing to get her old life packed up but it was another to get everything back to the way it was in a new house. Huffing out a breath, Regina continued to lounge around and gaze at the boxes, as if they'd unpack themselves.

Not one second later, she was off her bed, pretending to look busy as her door was shoved open by her mother. "Need I remind you again, Regina, that I expect this done by tomorrow? We have a whole house to unpack and I'm not doing it by myself."

"I know, Mother, I'm sorry. I'm working on it." Regina randomly started pulling objects out of the nearest box, desperate to not have her mother's wrath come down on her for not doing her job.

"See that it continues, dear. And remember, you need to be ready for school on Monday. I won't let you sit around the house just because you're nervous about being in a new town. You need to make a name for yourself, establish yourself as a 'Mills'."

Cora paused for a minute, waiting for her daughter to respond. When the young girl remained silent, she continued, "I have one other piece of news for you, Regina. I called the school to fine tune your schedule for the remainder of the semester. I informed the office that you will be joining the Debate Club, they have meetings a couple times a week and-"

"But Mother! I'm already in journalism, isn't that enough?" Regina took a chance at standing up for self, hoping she had gauged Cora's mood accurately. Unfortunately, the fates were not on her side and there was a resounding 'crack' as palm met cheek. Regina's head swung to the side and she brought her hand up to soothe her stinging face.

"Don't you dare talk back to me, young lady. Just because it's your senior year, doesn't mean you get to take it lightly. You're about to enter college and I will not have your transcript looked down upon because you were too lazy to push yourself. You'll participate in debate and that's the end of the discussion." Cora spared her daughter one last look before pivoting and walking out of the room.

Regina continued to stare after her mother, hand remaining on her reddened skin as she fought back the tears that were trying to break free. Desperate for some space, she quickly grabbed an old sweater she had flung on her bed earlier, and followed after her mother. Once she reached the top of the stairs she stood silently, listening for any noise that would alert her to her mother's position. Further down the hallway, away from the front door, Regina heard the sound of a box being ripped open and without delay, she tiptoed down the steps and ran for the front door.

Once outside, she took a deep breath and let the cool evening air relax her. The sun was just starting to set, sending the surrounding view into a bath of pinks and oranges. Being outside, away from her mother, instantly set her at ease. It was as if her mother's suffocating grip was no longer able to choke her. Regina followed in the footsteps of her shadow as it led her to the backyard. She made her way to a dying, old tree and sat against its trunk, the dead grass around it prickling her bare legs. Leaning her head against the bark, she let her eyes slip closed, allowing the stress to fade from her body.

The sky continued to grow darker, its fiery hue evolving into a deep blue. There was a chill in the air and Regina pulled her sweater closer to her body. A breeze brushed over her exposed skin when she felt it. The hairs on her arm raised and a tingling on her neck spread down her spine. Regina's eyes popped open and she tried to take in her darkened surroundings. Leaves rustled in the distance but she couldn't see anything, or anyone. Despite not catching sight of anyone, though, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. Her heart began to race in her chest, her breathing picking up its pace. She licked her lips and called out, "Who's there?!" Regina didn't know what would be worse, someone answering or it remain silent, but the only answer she received was the continuous swish of the dying leaves. Not taking any chances, Regina quickly stood up, running back around the house and slipping inside. She slammed the door shut and leaned against its sturdy frame for support.

As her heart rate slowed to a normal pace, Regina stepped away from the door and quietly climbed back up to her room. The brunette made it to her bed and collapsed in a heap, too focused on what she had felt outside to even think about what her mother would say about behaving in such an unlady like fashion. Regina couldn't make sense of what had just happened. She didn't feel particularly threatened but it had spooked her nonetheless. It was probably just an animal, a raccoon or squirrel; nothing to be worried about. The one thing Regina couldn't get out of her mind, though, was that if it had just been an animal, surely it shouldn't feel so much like someone was watching her. Thinking she was just paranoid, she shook the feeling from her mind and sat up on her bed. The new room was still a mess and Regina knew she'd have to help her mother with other things tomorrow so she gathered her strength and got back to work.

Boxes slowly disappeared as more of Regina's possessions got put in their proper place. The young girl paused in her unpacking to take in the sight. It was finally starting to look lived in, a warm glow from her lamp filled the space and the inviting scent from one of her candles made her feel like she was still at her old home. She picked up one of the boxes marked "childhood" and went to place it on one of the upper shelves of her closet when she heard a dull thud hit the back wall. The box wasn't that big so she set it on the floor and grabbed her desk chair to get a better look at the high ledge. Squinting into the darkness, she made out an outline of a book and pulled it towards her into the light.

The book had a worn out red leather cover but no other distinguishing marks on the outside. She quickly thumbed through the pages and realized that it must be someone's old diary. The pages were creased and torn but it looked well loved, most of the pages were filled except for a few left at the back. Regina turned back to the front, looking for a name, hoping that she could return it to the owner but there was nothing, at least not written clearly visible.

Regina turned the page to the first entry, dated back a couple years, when she heard the click of heels coming down the hallway and she quickly shoved the journal underneath her bed so her mother wouldn't see it. Just as she was getting back to her feet, Cora barged into the room, not bothering to knock first.

"Regina, go to bed, you have to be up early in the morning." Cora's voice was cold, devoid of caring.

"Yes, mother, I'll go soon. I'm just finishing up." Regina dusted off her clothes and watched as her mother left again, not bothering to say goodnight.

* * *

The next morning, Regina was woken up by her alarm earlier than she'd like, but Cora wasn't one for sleeping in so she forced herself out of bed and into the bathroom across the hall to get ready for the day. As soon as she was put together, she went downstairs and greeted her mother in the kitchen.

"How did you sleep last night, Regina?" Cora asked, if Regina didn't know better, she'd think her mother was actually curious.

"I slept well. I must have been tired from the busy day. And yourself, Mother?"

"Fine, fine," Cora batted her hand in the air, as if shooing away a pesky fly, and absentmindedly sipped her coffee, not looking up from the morning newspaper. "Hurry up and eat breakfast, we still have more to unpack. Meet me in the living room when you're finished."

Before Regina could say another word, Cora was up, setting her dirty coffee mug in the sink and striding out of the room. Regina poured her own cup of coffee and put together a simple breakfast, not really focusing on what she was eating. Once the food had disappeared from the plate, she got up and left the kitchen in search of her mother. She hadn't looked around the house at all so she wasn't sure which door led to the living room. She found the laundry and study rooms and on the third try she finally found what she was looking for.

The living room was cozy with a large brick fireplace and huge windows that faced the street. Cora was seated on a plush black leather sofa, digging through a box that held picture frames; but these frames were not filled with family photos, instead containing the many awards that both Cora and Regina had won for work and school, respectively. Cora looked up from her work to gaze at her daughter.

"Good, you're here. Start with those boxes over there." Cora pointed to a few boxes by the windows before continuing her own work.

They worked in silence for a while before Cora cleared her throat. Regina knew what was coming must not be good; Cora didn't bother with small talk so whatever she had to say must be important. "Regina, have you started looking into colleges yet?"

"A little, I'm not sure exactly what I want to do yet but I've been thinking about it," said Regina.

"You should be doing more than 'a little'. Openings fill up fast and I will not tolerate my daughter going to some hillbilly state school. One of my colleague's son's went to Harvard to study law. I've already talked to him about putting in a good word for you. He owes me a favor so I would say to expect an acceptance letter within a short time once you turn in your application."

Regina was silent for minute, eyes downcast. "Mother," Regina paused. "I was thinking of going to Columbia to study-"

Cora cut her daughter off before she could say another word. "To study what? Your precious journalism? That is preposterous! No daughter of mine will get a degree in such a frivolous field. That's out of the question."

"But, Mother-"

"Do NOT question me, Regina! I have worked my entire life to give you everything I can, and I will not have you throw it away on such an asinine degree. I could have had so much in life and yet I gave everything for you, you ungrateful child!" Cora shrieked, standing quickly and moving to where Regina was crouched on the floor. Regina saw the blow before it came, she tensed in preparation for the smack but that did not soften the pain. Regina ducked her head, hoping that would protect her from another attack. Cora grabbed the young girl's hair and pulled, forcing Regina's eyes to lock with her mother's. Cora leaned down, a mere few inches from her daughters face, and hissed, "You will not ruin this for me; do you hear me?" Cora waited for Regina to nod, her daughter's eyes wide with fear. "Now get out of my sight, I don't want to look at you."

Regina scrambled on all fours to get away from her mother before she tried to stand and ran for the door. Instead of going to her room, she turned the other way and rushed outside. She flung herself down the porch steps and over to the old swing. She grabbed the ropes to hold the seat steady and sat down, not caring if the old ropes could even take her weight.

Ragged breaths ripped from her throat as hot tears escaped down her cheeks. A sob broke free before she could stop it, her mind replayed the last few minutes over and over in her mind. For not the first time, Regina wished her father was here to defend her. Even if he couldn't outright stand up to Cora, he was at least always there afterword to comfort her but after the accident, she lost her only support system and her protector. Henry Mills had been driving home from a late night at work when he was hit by a drunk driver that had run a red light. He died upon impact and the Mills family hasn't been the same since. After Henry died, Cora became even more vicious. She took out all of her anger on her daughter, nothing was ever good enough.

Regina was lost in thought when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. The brunette hadn't noticed right away but another girl, around the same age, was walking towards her house. She had bouncy blonde curls that she tried to contain in a hair band, but wisps had broken free and framed her cheekbones. The blonde seemed just as lost in thought as Regina had been, seemingly unaware that she had stopped in front of Regina's house and was staring up at it, a confused look on her face. She couldn't deny that the girl had a strange beauty about her. The blonde locks almost made her look angelic, despite the grubby clothes she wore. If thick black-rimmed glasses didn't block her view, she would have guessed her eyes were just as pretty.

Regina continued to watch the girl as she just stood there, not saying anything and not continuing on her walk either. The brunette's eyebrows furrowed as she grew annoyed. She wondered why this girl was acting so strange. She just wanted to be left alone to think about her father and not have to worry about someone seeing her tear stained face.

"Hey!" Regina called out to the girl, no longer content to just watch. However, it would appear that the blonde hadn't heard her. "Hey, you!"

Regina tried to capture the other girl's attention without luck and her patience was wearing thin. Finally, all traces of tears gone, Regina got up from the swing and marched over to the stranger. "HELLO!" Regina snapped her fingers in the blonde's face and that finally got a reaction.

The blonde jumped out of her skin and turned to face Regina. The brunette was finally able to tell what color her eyes were, a beautiful blue-green. They stared at each other for a split second before the blonde's eyes widened in realization of another person next to her. Just as Regina opened her mouth to reproach the girl for ignoring her, the blonde let out a squeak before quickly running back the way she'd come. Regina was left standing there, a curious look on her face, mouth wide open. A moment passed before Regina shook her head and closed her lips.

"What the... whispered the brunette. "What just happened?"

Regina thought briefly about going after the girl but just shook her head and went back to her swing.

* * *

Throughout the whole rest of the day, Regina couldn't stop thinking about that blonde. The scenario kept passing through her mind. She wondered what had startled the girl so badly. Surely it hadn't been something she did? She hadn't been mean to the girl, so what had warranted her to run away? These thoughts kept her occupied until it was time for bed, and even the prospect of starting at a new school tomorrow couldn't keep those haunting green eyes out of her head.


	2. Chapter 2

A harsh beeping filled the early morning sunlit room, Regina rolled over and groaned. Her hand whipped out and silenced the offending noise. The teen pulled back the bed covers and sat up, letting her feet hit the cold floor. She was making her bed when Cora entered her room without knocking.

"Regina, you're not ready yet? It's your first day at this school and you need to look your best. I won't tolerate you looking sloppy just because you wanted to sleep in. I expect you downstairs and ready to go in half an hour, do you understand?" Without waiting for a response, Cora left the room, not bothering with a second glance back at her daughter.

"Yes, mother," came the soft reply, knowing it wouldn't be heard.

Regina quickly went through the rest of her morning routine and dressed in the clothes she knew her mother would approve of: dark wash designer jeans and a black cashmere cardigan. Grabbing her backpack off the floor, she made her way to the door and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Cora was sitting at the breakfast table, coffee in hand, going through some of her work files. She spared a quick glance at Regina, nodding in approval of her outfit before continuing with her work. Regina grabbed her own coffee and an apple, joining her mother at the table.

"Are you ready for your first day?" Cora asked.

"Yes, I think so." Regina fidgeted in her seat, still a little anxious about having to start at a new school for her senior year.

"Don't 'think', either you are or you aren't, which is it?"

"I'm… ready. Will I be allowed to drive myself, mother?"

Cora contemplated her daughter for a minute before responding. "Yes, I have a meeting to attend in the afternoon. I won't be home until after dinner so you'll have to make something for yourself."

"Okay, what is the meeting for?"

"It's none of your concern, dear." With that, Regina knew the conversation was over and remained silent for the rest of the meal. She drained the last of her coffee and stood up, put her dishes in the sink and grabbed her bag.

"I'll be going now mother, have a good day." She waited a moment to see if Cora would respond but her mother simply turned over a piece of paper and continued reading. The girl turned and walked away, exited the house, getting in her black Mercedes. She took a deep breath before starting her car, trying to calm the anxiety that was continuing to build.

Thoughts rolled around in her head as she followed the directions to her school that her mother had given her. Before she knew it, a big grey building loomed ahead of her and her heart started to race. She schooled her features into a neutral expression and drove down the lanes, looking for a parking spot. She pulled into an empty spot and shut off the engine. Running a hand through her chocolate colored hair, she sighed and gathered her courage before pushing open the car door and stepping outside. She straightened out her sweater and confidently strode up to the entrance. Regina could feel eyes on her as she walked but didn't let that affect her.

A group of teenagers were sitting on the stairs by the doors and as Regina passed, all three glanced up at her with odd expressions on their faces. The blonde girl furrowed her eyebrows and whispered something to the guy sitting next to her, who looked almost like her twin, and he too now gazed at her with a puzzled expression on his face. There was another boy in the group who looked out of place next to the preppy twins. He was dressed in all dark clothing, black eyeliner and short messy hair; but unlike the others, he gave a small smile and wave to the obviously new girl. Then he reached over and smacked both of the twins upside the head. She gave a quirk of her lips in return before turning away, opening the doors and stepping inside the cool building. Time seemed to slow down as she walked down the artificially lit hallway. The kids continued to stare at her, but she just brushed it off as her being new in a small town - she was probably the only new kid many had seen in their entire high school life.

Regina stopped a younger boy, most likely a freshman, and asked where the office was. He looked up at her, eyes wide before stuttering that she should continue down the hall and take the next left. She thanked him and continued on her way, ignoring his strange behavior. She stopped outside the room labeled 'Office' and was nearly smacked in the face when the door suddenly opened and a short girl with dark hair let out an exclamation of surprise.

"I'm so sorry! Are you ok?! I didn't hit you did I?!" The girl stuttered on, continuing to apologize furiously, not allowing Regina to get a word in edgewise.

Regina rested a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Listen…" She paused for a second.

"Oh! I'm sorry! My name's Belle, I didn't introduce myself did I?"

"It's ok, honestly, Belle. You didn't hit me, I'm ok." Regina was a little taken aback by this hyperactive girl. Honestly, she just wanted to be on her way, but her mother raised her not to be rude.

"Are you sure?! I'm so-"

"Belle, seriously it's ok. But if you wouldn't mind, I just need to get my class schedule."

"Of course! You must be Regina, it's not often we get a new person here," she chuckled to herself quietly. "Storybrooke is a pretty small town. Oh, but didn't you move into-"

"Miss French!" A man dressed impeccably in a dark suite limped towards the two girls; a wooden cane clunking on the linoleum with every other step. "Quit harassing the new student, I'm sure she has plenty to do. I needed to talk to you anyway."

"Sure thing, Mr. Gold," Belle glanced quickly at Regina. "It was nice to meet you, Regina. I hope you like it here, and I hope I get to talk to you later!" With that, she gave an enthusiastic wave before running after the man who was presumably a teacher.

Regina shook her head in disbelief over how someone could be so bubbly and opened the door to the administrative office. The door shut behind her and blocked out the cacophony of the many students. She made her way to the desk and waited for the woman to look up from her computer.

Regina gave her name and the office attendant printed out her schedule, wishing her a half-hearted 'good luck' before going back to her computer. Looking down at the piece of paper, the girl took in what would be the remainder of her high school career. The first class of the day was history; followed by chemistry, calculus and biology. After lunch she had English, art history and journalism; and of course, her mother insisted she partake in the debate club after school. She knew her course load was going to keep her busy during her last year.

* * *

Her first few classes passed in a blur and soon it was the last class before lunch. She managed to find the lab her biology class was in and made her way to the front of the room to introduce herself to her teacher. Mrs. Wren seemed laid back, and told Regina she could take a seat at the empty chair three rows back from the front. She found her spot and started taking out the necessary supplies from her bag when she heard the chair next to her scrape obnoxiously against the floor.

Annoyed, Regina looked up from her bag, ready to admonish whoever it was to have a little class, when she realized it was the boy that had smiled at her earlier. He plopped down in the seat, letting his back pack fall haphazardly to the floor and not bothering to take anything out of it.

He turned to face her and gave a simple "Hey" as a greeting.

Regina nodded in his direction before turning back to face the front of the room, meticulously straightening her notebook and pens to avoid talking.

Apparently the boy didn't get the hint. "So why'd you move here?"

The brunette's body tensed, fingers frozen holding a pen and she turned her head stiffly to once again take in the boy. "I don't believe that's any of your concern."

"Jefferson… Jefferson Harris, at your service. It's a pleasure to meet you, Regina Mills." He bowed his head and flung his arms wide in a flamboyant show of chivalry.

"How do you know my name?" Regina dropped the pen and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why you're the talk of the town, Mills. It's not every day our little Storybrooke gains a new resident."

"My name isn't 'Mills', it's Regina. I would appreciate it if you'd use it."

"No thank you, Mills seems more fitting." He gave a flick of his wrist as if to dismiss the subject. "Now why'd you move here?"

Regina sighed, knowing it was useless to completely avoid the subject. "My mother thought a change was necessary."

"'A change was necessary?' What're you, a diplomat or something? Who talks like that?"

The girl raised her head a fraction, offended by the boy's insults. "Mother raised me well, what's wrong with what I said?"

"Nothing, nothing. Never you mind your pretty little head." Before Regina could pull away, he reached up and ruffled her hair. The girl violently pulled away and almost fell out of her seat. Regina was about to give him a piece of her mind when the teacher cleared her throat and called the students to attention. She ran a hand through her hair to straighten it and turned once again to face the front of the room. A shiver ran down her spine when she felt a presence next to her ear. "Psst, Mills. I bet you don't have anyone to sit with at lunch, why don't you meet me and my friends."

Without thinking much about it, Regina nodded her head, hoping that would pacify the boy enough to leave her alone for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

Regina entered the large, noisy room and scanned her surroundings. The lunch room was packed with students enjoying their little free time away from lessons and homework. Walking over to the lunch line, she grabbed a salad and slowly made her way over to the tables. She wasn't easily intimidated, but searching for a place to sit in a crowd of strangers was enough to shake the brunette. Suddenly, she noticed a frantic hand waving out of the corner of her eye. Jefferson was sitting at a table off to the right and appeared to desperately want her to join him. She hesitated and looked around the room for a better option. Seeing none, she slowly made her way over to the strange boy.

"Hey, Mills! You looked a little lost. The lunch room can be brutal. Besides you said you'd sit with me anyway, so sit your ass down already."

Surprisingly, Regina gave in and slid in to a spot across from him.

"The others should be here soon. I warned them about you, by the way. They're very excited to make your acquaintance." Regina threw Jefferson a look, knowing he was making fun of her proper language.

The girl had just started on her salad when Jefferson's voice made her jump. "Hey Kathryn! Over here!" A blonde girl made her way over to the table and Regina recognized her as one of the twins she had seen earlier.

"Hey Jefferson… and you must be Regina. It's nice to meet you, my name's Kathryn obviously, in case you missed this idiot's obnoxious outburst."

"It's nice to meet you, Kathryn. Is he always like that?" She jerks her thumb in the direction of the dark haired boy.

"Yup, pretty much. You'll get used to it though don't worry."

Regina mumbled under her breath, "I'm not sure I want to."

Kathryn let out a peal of laughter. "Don't worry, the rest of us are pretty sane. Speaking of which, David isn't going to be here. He said something about coach needing to talk to him and Daniel will be coming but he's going to be late." The blonde turned to Regina. "David is the other blonde guy you might have seen with us earlier-"

"Oh, yes, is he your twin? You look very similar." Regina couldn't help but ask.

Two voices instantly broke out in laughter, but Kathryn answered, "No no no, I'll admit we look alike but we are in no way related at all. It's kind of become our running joke since we were children. We like to fool people into thinking we're brother and sister, but really, we're not."

"Oh, okay then." Regina wasn't sure why someone would fake being related, it seemed like a waste of time.

Kathryn went on like nothing had happened. "And Daniel is a real stud. You can't miss him. He's your tall, dark and handsome type, basically." Not knowing how to respond, Regina went back to eating her salad, unsure if she'd ever really fit in with these teens. "Speak of the devil, there he is." Regina looked up from her salad and followed Kathryn's outstretched hand, her eyes landing on the most attractive guy she'd ever seen.

A new deep voice greeted them. "Hey guys, how's it goin'?"

A chorus of "good's resounded back and Daniel took the only open seat, right next to Regina. She budged over a bit, trying to give herself some space away from the boy. Daniel noticed the subtle change and looked at her. "Let me guess, you're Regina right?"

The girl flushed but tried to remain aloof. "Umm, yes, that's me."

"It's nice to meet you, Regina. My name's Daniel." The boy outstretched his hand. Regina swallowed and looked down at the waiting appendage. She slowly offered her own and when their palms touched, she couldn't help the light shiver that ran up her spine.

"It's-" Regina cleared her throat. "It's nice to meet you too… Daniel."

If the boy noticed anything strange, he didn't comment on it and merely turned back to face the others and started talking about their first day back. Regina tried to pay attention to what the others were saying but her mind was a million miles away. Her mother had always been very strict regarding her personal life. There was never any time for socializing outside of her schoolwork. She had never had any interest in boys simply because there wasn't enough time in her day; but something about Daniel changed things. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Regina had to admit that he was pretty handsome; dark flowing hair, chiseled jaw line and not overly muscular. Then, reality came crashing back, her mother would never approve, especially not during her senior year. There were already too many things to focus on, a boy being the least of her concerns. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, not noticing a pair of blue eyes narrow in suspicion.

* * *

After lunch, Kathryn grabbed Regina's hand and stated that she was walking the new girl to their shared English class. As soon as they were out of the boys' earshot, she confronted the brunette. "You like him don't you?"

Regina froze. "W-what?"

"Oh, don't play coy. I saw you looking at Daniel. You think he's cute." Kathryn nudged her new friend with her elbow. "Just admit it, I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. I've only just met him. How could I like someone if I don't even know them?" Regina hoped this was enough to get the other girl off her back; she didn't need this drama on her first day at a new school.

"Okay, maybe not _like_ like but… you do think he's attractive, am I right?" Kathryn waggled her eyebrows suggestively, causing Regina to blush once again.

"Well… he isn't terrible looking but-"

"HA! I knew it! You like him!"

"No!" Regina's mind whirled. She didn't need this, not today. Not any day, really. "Kathryn, no, I don't."

"Mhmm, sure you don't. Okay, but don't worry, girl. I won't say anything. But you two would be cute together, just sayin'." With that, Kathryn stopped walking and opened the door to a room that Regina assumed must be her English class.

Once again, the girl made her way to the front of the room to speak to the teacher and as luck would have it, the only open spot was on the complete other side of the room from where Kathryn was sitting. At least she'd get a reprieve from the third degree questioning for the duration of the class. However, that didn't stop her brain from running a picture of the boy in question through her head every few seconds; and if she had been asked what exactly they talked about in English that day, she doubted she'd be able to give an accurate answer.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by in a blur and before she knew it, Jefferson was dropping her off at her last class. He wished her luck, telling her that the journalism teacher was a hard ass and she was going to need all the luck she could get. She opened the door and before she could even take a full step into the room, a soft Scottish accent reached her ears.

"Ah, if it isn't Miss Regina Mills, pleasure to meet you, deary. Your mother has told me so much about you." A small man with a cane limped his way over to her and offered his hand. Regina hesitantly shook it in return.

Without returning the formalities, she asked, "You know my mother?"

The man gave an eerie tinkering laugh. "Yes, we've done business in the past, but don't you worry about that. Why don't you take a seat right here, front and center." He guided her to the front of the room, the girl shivered when he placed a hand on the small of her back.

She took a look around the room and noticed a 'Mr. Gold' written on the black board. Most of the room was still empty of kids but she knew there were still a few minutes before the final bell rang.

Before long, the room had filled up and Mr. Gold was handing out the syllabus. Regina didn't know how someone so small could be so enrapturing when he barely spoke above a whisper, but she looked around the room and all eyes were focused on the little imp of a man. The teacher in question gave a light cough and Regina snapped back to attention.

"Now that I have everyone's focus again… as I was saying, you will have several large projects throughout the year that will account for the majority of your grade; as well as a few smaller exercises and quizzes to have the chance to earn some extra points, because you'll probably need them. Make no mistake; this is not a class to take if you want an easy 'A'. There will be work and it will take time; if this is something you don't want to do, I suggest you leave now." He paused for a minute but no one got up. "Your first big project will be an investigative journalism piece. It can be on anything you like, as long as it's cleared by me first. The due date is in the syllabus but you will have a few weeks to gather evidence and write up a report. I do not tolerate late work. If you can't get it in on time, don't bother coming back. It would be a waste of both of our time."

Mr. Gold continued to talk about their other projects but Regina was lost in thought as to what she should do her report on. Journalism was her passion and she wanted to take this class seriously, despite her mother thinking it was a trivial career choice. She continued to toss around ideas in her head and jot them down in her notebook. Before she knew it, the bell went off, signifying the end of the day. Immediately students started packing up their things and rushed to get out of the classroom. Regina took her time, placing her books and supplies into their rightful spot and was just getting ready to head for the door when her name was called.

Mr. Gold motioned for her to come up to his desk and she hesitantly obeyed. "Is there something I can do for you, Mr. Gold?"

He gave her a knowing smile. "Have you thought about any ideas for your investigative piece? I know you're new here so I just want to make sure you're comfortable and feel prepared."

"Well yes, actually, I have several ideas that I was thinking of researching. Would you like to see them?" She moved to open her bag but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"No no, deary, I actually had something in mind for you, but I would appreciate it if you didn't tell your other classmates. This is supposed to be an independent project after all."

"Then, sir, you shouldn't help me. It wouldn't be fair. I can do it on my own." She didn't appreciate getting help solely because she was new.

"Alright, Miss Mills, just one last piece of advice: take a look in your backyard. I think you might find a _very_ fascinating story there."

Regina stared at him, eyebrows knitting together. "What? What does that mean?"

Mr. Gold just looked at her. An awkward tension filled the room and Regina fidgeted. "Run along, deary. I expect your friends will be waiting for you."

Regina stayed a minute longer before slowly backing out of the room. Thoughts swirled in her head as she replayed the last few minutes. What did he mean she had a story in her backyard?


	3. Chapter 3

Regina stepped outside, her head still processing what Mr. Gold had just told her, and walked over to a waiting Jefferson and Kathryn.

Without waiting for greetings, she asked, "Did something happen in the house I moved into?"

Immediately the two teens went ridged. They shared a look before both turning back to the new girl. Kathryn was the one who spoke up. "We don't talk about that."

"Why? What happened?"

Jefferson glared at Kathryn and cleared his throat. "Nothing happened, where did you hear that something did?"

"Mr. Gold was talking to us about our investigative journalism project and he told me to look in my old backyard. He said I had a good story there. What did he mean?" The brunette was becoming impatient. Something had obviously gone wrong and she was upset that people were keeping things from her. She thought back throughout her day. Maybe this was why people had been looking at her strangely?

"Gold shouldn't be putting ideas in your head, Mills. Nothing happened and there's nothing to 'investigate'. Just forget about it." Jefferson stared at her, as if trying to hypnotize her into believing his words.

"Okay, if you say so, Jefferson." Regina played off her curiosity to get her new friends off her back. She knew they wouldn't answer her questions but she'd find out one way or another. "Anyway, I need to go back inside. There's a meeting for the debate club mother wants me to attend. Do you know where it is?"

The two looked relieved at her dropping the subject and Kathryn eagerly answered, "Just go down the main hallway and take a left. It should be the second door on the right. I think it's room twelve."

"Thank you, I'll see you later. I appreciate you both showing me around earlier." With that she walked back towards the main doors and stepped inside once again. If she had just turned back around she would have noticed another nervous glance shared between the two teens before they both walked their separate ways to their cars.

* * *

Debate club slowly passed and soon Regina found herself at home. She was sitting in her backyard, trying to stay out of her mother's way. Settled down under the giant oak tree, the girl takes out her homework that she had been given for her English class. _1984_ by George Orwell. She had already read it before, but it was one of her favorite novels so she didn't mind having to repeat the work.

She was only a chapter in when she heard a rustling from behind her. She stood up quickly, and swept her eyes over the surrounding bushes.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

A familiar squeak filled the air and an unexpected body fell through the thick hedge. Regina recognized the messy blonde curls atop the head of her intruder and folded her arms over her chest.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The blonde girl remained on the hard ground, but seemed to sense someone was near her. Regina watched as the blonde head took in a pair of bare feet and slowly looked up, taking in the rest of the brunette. An unamused look filled Regina's features as she stared into those blue-green eyes. "What are you doing in my backyard? How many times do I have to ask you?"

The blonde looked around, confused. "I-I'm sorry. Before this house was sold, this is where I'd come to think." The strange girl stood up and brushed a few stray leaves from her shabby clothes. She looked around the yard, lost in thought. "It's a force of habit, I'll go."

The girl started to walk away, throwing one last "I'm sorry" over her shoulder.

Without a second thought, Regina called back to her. "No, wait! It's okay. You can stay… if you want."

The blonde turned back around and Regina quickly averted her eyes, not wanting the other girl to know she had been staring. She wasn't sure why she wanted the girl to stay. Usually she liked the solitude. Not having had many friends left her used to her own company and now having other people invade her space tended to leave her feeling anxious and upset.

The blonde made her way back over to the tree. She contemplated it for a second before grabbing a low hanging branch and swinging herself up and over it to come to a sitting position. She let out a low chuckle at hearing Regina's gasp of surprise.

"What are you doing?! You practically gave me a heart attack! That's dangerous you know; you could fall!" As Regina continued her little rant, the blonde continued up on her journey, climbing higher in the tree.

The blonde laughed again. "Don't worry about me; I used to do this all the time. I'll be fine."

"Fine, but if you fall and break your neck don't come crying to me." Regina let out a huff and sat back down against the tree trunk.

Once again, the blonde laughed and Regina glared at her book, regretting her decision to invite the stranger to stay. "If you're going to keep laughing at me you might as well go. I have work to do."

With one last chuckle, the blonde became quiet. "Okay, okay, I'll stop. I promise."

Both girls remained quiet for a short while but the air quickly filled with awkwardness and Regina squirmed on the ground. "So what's your name, anyway? If I'm going to allow a stranger into my backyard, I should at least know that much."

The girl hesitated before answering. "My name's… Emma."

"Emma what?"

"Just Emma. That's what people call me." The blonde hardened her voice and Regina had enough common sense to leave the subject alone.

"Okay, Emma. It's nice to meet you."

The blonde laughed once again. "Why're you so prim and proper?" She cleared her throat before continuing in an annoyingly high British accent. "I am also pleased to make your acquaintance…"

Regina looked up into the tree and glared at Emma. "Regina… Regina Mills."

Emma smiled at her and gave a nod. "It's nice to meet you too, 'Gina."

Regina instantly froze. "Don't you dare call me that!"

Emma looked taken aback. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Regina it is then."

Regina took in a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry for snapping. I just don't like people calling me that. It's personal."

"Hey, no biggie; don't worry about it. I won't call you that again." Emma held up her hands in mock surrender even though the brunette wasn't looking at her.

The two remained quiet for a long while, the original tension now dissipated, but Regina was curious about this stranger so she chose to break the silence once again.

"Have you lived in Storybrooke long?"

Emma hesitated. "No, I'm originally from Boston."

"Wow, Boston. How come you moved here?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Okay…" Regina accepted her avoidance and went on with her questioning. "How come you come here to hang out?"

"It's…. peaceful. And no one bothers me here."

"Oh… okay." Regina stopped for a second before her first school day started running through her head yet again. "Hey, Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

The blonde looked down at the top of Regina's head and furrowed her brow. "Sure, go ahead."

"Today at school, you know the teacher, Mr. Gold?" She looked up and saw Emma nod. "Well, he's having us do an investigative report and he said I had a story in my backyard… do you have any idea what that means? No one else would tell me? People act strange when I bring it up."

There was a slight narrowing of blue-green eyes but other than that, Emma remained cool. However, Regina still noticed that slight increase in anxiety. "I don't know much about it. Apparently a girl used to live in the house you own. One day, the girl disappeared and then so did the family. There's a lot of mystery around it. But it was before I moved here, no one really talks about it and I didn't bother to ask."

"And they were never found? How could a whole family just disappear?"

"I don't know. Like I said, it was before I moved here. You'd probably be better off asking someone who's lived here longer." There was a strange edge to Emma's voice and Regina was growing increasingly annoyed at having people give her half answers.

"But I want to know! Why does no one talk about it?"

"I can't help you, Regina! I'm sorry but you know as much as I do." With that, the blonde made her way back down the tree and landed with a thump on the ground. "Look, from being around here a little bit longer than you, I can tell you that it's a touchy subject. Just be careful who you ask, okay?" Emma moved closer to Regina, holding eye contact. "I'm sorry but I should get home. My parents don't know where I am and I don't want to get in trouble."

Before Regina could say anything, Emma was walking away. Regina watched her leave, hoping the blonde would at least look back, but she didn't. Emma disappeared from view and the brunette let out a sigh. If anything, she was even more confused than she had been at school. But one thing was for certain, she had found the subject for her report.


	4. Chapter 4

A week passed and school continued on as normal. Regina was leaving one morning when a voice startled her.

"Hey, wait up!"

Regina turned around and came face to face with Emma. She smiled and waved a greeting. They'd only known each other a short time but they were quickly becoming friends. While Regina thought the blonde was often aggravating, she couldn't help but feel drawn to her. Emma ran to catch up with the other girl and Regina felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.

Regina yelped and ducked away. "Emma, stop!"

"Oh come on, Regina. Live a little!" Emma chased after the fleeing brunette and when she finally caught her, tackled her in a huge hug.

"EMMA!"

Emma let go of the girl and backed away. "Alright, keep your panties on."

"Thank you. Sorry, I'm just not used to stuff like that." Regina scratched the back of her head, eyes downcast, and started walking in the direction of the school.

"Stuff like what? Playing around?" Emma was confused and followed after her new friend.

"No… like touching; I haven't had many friends. I'm not used to it." Regina's cheeks flushed a light pink.

"Oh, you haven't done much touching, huh? Well, I can fix that." Emma waggled her eyebrows when Regina looked up, and bumped shoulders with the flustered girl.

"Emma, please stop," Regina blushed darker. "Come on, we're going to be late."

The brunette quickly walked away, not bothering to wait for Emma to catch up. Regina heard Emma let out a huff and scamper after her. They fell into sync and continued their walk in silence.

Once they reached the school, Emma stopped. Regina continued a few paces until she felt the empty presence next to her. She turned around and looked at the blonde. "What?"

Emma didn't seem to hear the question. Regina sighed and walked back, this kind of thing had been happening frequently. Emma would seem to go 'away' for periods of time and it didn't matter how hard Regina tried, nothing would snap the other girl out of it. Regina placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder until Emma blinked and shook her head.

"Where did you go just now?" Questioned Regina.

"Nowhere," Emma sighed. "I don't think I'm going to class today."

"You mean play hooky? You can't do that! And hey, why don't I ever see you at school? You don't skip a lot, do you?"

"School isn't really my thing, Regina. I only go to keep M&amp;M happy."

"Who's M&amp;M?" Out of the few times the girls had hung out, Emma never mentioned any other friends or acquaintances and Regina was eager to find out any other tidbits of information she could squeeze out of the girl.

"Oh, Mary Margaret. She's my mom but I call her M&amp;M."

"Your mother lets you call her by her first name?" Regina was shocked.

"Yeah, it's not really a big deal. She doesn't mind. Anyway, I'm gonna head out, Regina. I'll see you after school." The blonde started walking away when a firm hand grabbed her arm.

"No way, you are not skipping school. If someone sees us standing out here together, I will not have my record tarnished because I was seen with some delinquent. You're going to class."

"But mooooooom," Emma whined, not caring if she sounded like a child.

"Oh grow up, Emma. It's just for a few hours. Besides, maybe you'll learn something." Regina started tugging on Emma's sleeve to pull her in the direction of the front doors.

Emma grumbled a response. "Doubt it."

"Shush, now which class do you have first?"

Emma tried to fight against the urge to blindly follow the girl, but soon realized it was a losing battle. "Algebra."

"Okay good. Now go, I'll see you later." The girls started walking their separate ways when Regina turned around and yelled after the blonde. "It'll be over before you know it!"

She watched the blonde flip her off without a glance back, and she couldn't help the small smile that lit up her face.

* * *

The day dragged on but it was finally lunch time and Regina went searching for her friends. She looked around the cafeteria but didn't see them anywhere. Just as she was about to take a seat at an empty table, she saw Jefferson come through a side door and make his way towards her. "Hey, the weather's actually nice out for once, so we're eating outside. I just came in to find you."

Regina grabbed her bag and followed after him and was soon hit with warm summer air. The sun was bright and she had to shield her eyes to see where Jefferson was leading her. A few yards away sat picnic tables filled with more kids, and they walked to where Kathryn, David and Daniel were already sitting. Regina heard a chorus of hello's and gave her own in return before sitting down.

She started unpacking her lunch, listening to the others chat about their day. It was nice to finally have friends her own age. It was relaxing to just listen to them talk and be able to forget her own thoughts in the constant babble of other teenagers. She scanned the area surrounding their table, having never been out to this part of the school before. There were several other tables filled with kids, all having their own private conversations, except for one.

One table was oddly silent. She glance over each occupant in turn and realized one teen was Emma. As if sensing eyes on her, Emma looked up and caught Regina's gaze. They smiled briefly at each other but neither made a move to get up. Emma went back to picking at her food and Regina continued to stare. The other kids at the table seemed to completely ignore her presence, not that they were talking to each other much either.

Regina leaned over and whispered in Kathryn's ear. "Hey, how come those kids are acting weird?"

Kathryn followed Regina's look and responded. "Oh, those are just the loners. They band together when necessary but don't really talk outside of that. I guess it beats eating completely by yourself."

"Oh, okay." Regina fell silent after that and Kathryn became absorbed back into their table's discussion. She continued to watch Emma, wondering if she should go and keep her company, but thinking better of it. She didn't want to be branded a loner and she knew her mother would have a fit if she found out she was eating with the unpopular kids.

"Regina!"

Startled, Regina snapped her head up and made eye contact with Daniel. "Yes?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The boy flushed and gave the girl a small smile in apology.

Regina looked down, embarrassed. "No it's my fault, I was lost in thought."

"What were you thinking about?" Daniel seemed genuinely curious but Regina was in no mood to share her thoughts on the blonde.

"Oh nothing, it's not important."

"Okay then. Say, you're in Ms. Severson's art history class right? Did you finish the assignment?"

"Y-yeah, I finished it two days ago… and already handed it in." Despite having been around Daniel every day for the past week, Regina still got flustered every time he spoke to her and she couldn't figure out why that was. The two talked about their assignment until Jefferson yelled at the two that the bell had rung, signifying that lunch was over. They quickly gathered their things and made their way back inside.

Regina looked around, hoping to spot Emma, but it seemed the blonde had already gone as well. With a small sigh, Regina followed after her friends and anxiously awaited the end of the day.

* * *

When the final bell rang, Regina wasted no time gathering her things and bolting out the door before Mr. Gold could think of an excuse for her to stay. She made a quick stop at her locker to gather her night's homework before making her way outside; hardly any students were on the school grounds yet but sitting on the stone steps with her back facing the brunette, was Emma. An idea popped into Regina's head and a little smirk pulled at her lips. She quietly tiptoed up behind the blonde and tapped a finger on one shoulder before darting the other way.

Emma, forever oblivious, turned and realized no one was there. Regina couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips and Emma whirled around. "Oh my god, Regina. Way to be five! And you criticize me for being childish!"

"Whatever, Em. You're just jealous I managed to trick you." Regina scampered down the steps and didn't bother to turn to see if the blonde was following her, she knew she would be.

"I am not jealous," Emma huffed and ran after her.

"Mhm, sure you're not." Regina laughed at Emma's disgruntled look. "Come on, mother will wonder what's taking so long."

"Tell your mother to go screw herself."

"Emma! Don't speak about my mother like that!"

"Oh, you know you want to, don't deny it."

"I would never say such a thing!"

"Yeah, okay, whatever you say, princess."

"Emma…."

The girl sighed. "Sorry, sorry… your highness."

Regina gave Emma a look.

"Ugh, fine! Don't have a sense of humor then." Emma continued walking and Regina quickly noticed a change in attitude. "So I saw you talking to Daniel earlier."

Regina swallowed. "Oh, you saw that, huh?"

"Well it was kind of hard to miss, you were acting like a shy little school girl with a crush." Regina didn't miss the slightly bitter tone Emma put in her words, and she wondered why the girl would react in such a way.

"I was not, and I do not have a crush. He just wanted help with his homework," said Regina defensively.

"That's not what it looked like from where I was sitting."

"Well you weren't exactly sitting with me, were you?" The brunette mocked.

"That doesn't mean I don't have eyes" Emma shot back.

"Well, nothing happened. And I don't like him that way, he's just a friend. Why are you so interested anyway?"

Emma hesitated and licked her lips, buying time. "I'm not; I was just trying to get under your skin."

Regina knew that wasn't the whole truth, Emma may still be a mystery to her but she could tell when the blonde wasn't being completely truthful. Despite wanting to know what Emma was really thinking, she knew if she pushed, she would never get the answer, so she let it drop. "Well it didn't work and it never will."

"I'll believe that when I see it. Anyway, this is your stop."

"What?" Regina looked at Emma, confused.

Emma pointed behind her. "This is your house, right? Unless you moved without telling me."

"Oh! Yes, of course." Regina walked up her driveway and Emma slowly followed after. "Well… thank you for walking me home, Emma. I'd better get inside."

"Did you want to hang out for a little while? I don't really feel like going home." Emma asked, hopefully.

Regina's eyes flickered to the fancy car parked in the driveway. "I'm sorry, but mother's home. I don't think that's a good idea right now."

"So? Can't you just tell her you're having a friend over?"

"No, I can't. Mother doesn't approve of having friends over after school. It takes away from my studying time, unless it's to work on a school project."

"What? That's bullshit!"

"Emma!" hissed Regina. "Language!"

"Ugh, sorry."

Regina sighed and gave the girl a small smile. "I'm sorry, Emma, but maybe another time."

Emma just nodded her head and turned to walk away. "I'll see you later, 'Gina."

Regina started to criticize the blonde but thought better of it. She watched the blonde slowly walk down the driveway and across the street until her view was blocked by the house. Even though she was upset the blonde couldn't stay, she was pleased that she had seemed to have made a friend that actually wanted to spend time with her, something she'd never had her entire life.


	5. Chapter 5

Regina walked outside and breathed in the cool autumn air. The first month of school had passed quickly and Regina was adapting well into the routine of a new school. She could honestly say that Jefferson and Kathryn were her best friends and Emma was becoming, well, she didn't know what Emma was becoming. They had grown close over the last month and she could feel a connection growing between them that she couldn't explain. She was looking for the blonde when Jefferson came up to her and made a proposition.

"Hey, Mills, the gang's going to Granny's, let's go!" Jefferson grabbed her hand and started dragging her to his car.

"Jefferson, you know I have debate, I can't," sighed Regina.

"Oh come on, Mills, live a little. Debate will still be there when you get back."

"Not if mother murders me for skipping, it won't," The girl deadpanned.

"And how will she find out? I'm not going to tell her." Jefferson leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "Besides, Daniel wants you to come."

Regina rolled her eyes and shoved him. "Will you quit it, please."

"You know you liiiiiike him," teased Jefferson.

"Jefferson, you know I don't."

The truth was, something about Daniel fascinated her. He was interesting and always seemed attentive to what she had to say. It seemed like every time he talked to her a smile instantly sprang to life and a warm feeling spread through her body. She wouldn't necessarily call it a crush but she had to admit that something was definitely starting to develop. Having never gone through this before, Regina wanted to talk to Emma about it, but it seemed like every time she brought up Daniel's name, Emma closed off and had some kind of excuse to leave.

Apparently Regina had zoned out because Jefferson snapped his fingers in front of her face and spoke, "Mills, I know you get all flustered whenever he's around, you don't hide it that well, just accept it and move on. Now, come on, I'm not asking."

She thought about it for a second before giving in; he had been right, it was unlikely that her mother would find out she skipped the debate club. And she did want to spend time with her friends… and Daniel. They reached Jefferson's car and she noticed Kathryn and David sitting in the backseat, leaving the front for her.

"Daniel's meeting us there, in case you were wondering," snickered Jefferson.

"Oh, well I wasn't," Regina growled, "But thanks for letting me know."

When the teens got to the diner, they found Daniel already sitting at a booth, waiting. Kathryn and David scooch in one end and Jefferson poked Kathryn to get her to move over so he could squeeze in, leaving Regina to sit next to Daniel, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the brunette.

They order their food quickly and discussion turned to a topic Regina had been dreading. Homecoming. It was the talk of the school and it seemed like everyone was only concerned with who they were taking, what they were wearing and if the football team would win the game. Regina didn't understand why it was such a big deal. Who cared about dancing to cheesy music in a smelly gym?

"So who do you want to go with, Regina?" asked Kathryn, clearly ignorant to Regina's abhorrence of the subject.

Regina gave her friend a glare. "I don't want to go with anyone."

"How can you not want to go? It's like, only the biggest tradition in high school history other than prom."

Knowing that her continued refusal would get her nowhere, she decided to play the mother card. "Mother would never allow me to go. She doesn't believe in such 'frivolous' things."

"That's bullshit, Mills, and you know it." Jefferson exclaimed, clearly not putting up with any of her excuses. "I'm going stag because no one can handle my awesome style, but if necessary, I will drag your ass outside of your house with Cora watching and make you get dressed on your front lawn. Do you understand?"

"I'd like to see you try." To deflect the conversation from her, she gushed to Kathryn. "I can't believe David finally asked you!"

"Yeah no kidding right?! It took him long enough." The girl stuck out her tongue at her new boyfriend.

David spoke to defend his honor. "Hey, I was just thinking of the perfect way to ask. It isn't easy."

"Says the boy who's had dozens of different dates." The two love birds made gooey eyes at each other and got lost in their own world.

Jefferson wretched in mock disgust. "Ugh, you two get a room already… OW! What the hell!" He grimaced and reached down to presumably clutch the leg that Kathryn had just kicked.

"Get over it, Jefferson, you're just jealous," laughed Daniel.

"Yeah that's right, Daniel. Who're you taking anyway, big shot?"

"That's none of your business, man." Daniel shifted in his seat, obviously uncomfortable.

"You're just scared, we all know who you want to go with."

"Jefferson, shut up!" Daniel reached over the table and socked Jefferson on the arm.

"Oww, Daniel, was that really necessary?" Jefferson whined, rubbing the sore spot.

"It wouldn't have been if you quit bugging me."

The teasing stopped when the waitress dropped off their food. The conversation moved on and both Regina and Daniel shared a relieved look. The shy boy smiled at her and she returned it, looking up at him from under her lashes.

* * *

Once they finished eating, Daniel offered to drive Regina home but she declined, not quite up to being alone in a car with him for the few minutes it took to get to her house. She walked down the road, lost in thought. She wondered who Daniel really was planning to ask. She wasn't completely blind; she'd noticed that he did seem uncomfortable when the others were teasing him about who he wanted to take. Why wouldn't he just say? Unless it really was her he wanted to ask. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she walked up her driveway and entered the house.

All the lights were off and Regina surmised that Cora must still be at work. At least she didn't have to worry about answering to where she'd been the past half hour, seeing as debate had been finished a good while now. She walked up the stairs, entered her room and turned on the light. She flung her backpack on her bed and changed into yoga pants and a t-shirt. Settling herself in a comfortable position, she opened her bag and took out one of her textbooks. For the most part, she found her classes and work interesting but even she had trouble concentrating sometimes.

She forced herself to concentrate and put on some relaxing music to get her in the mood to work. Slowly, time passed and she only had an assignment for her biology class left to finish when a creak outside her door made her break her focus.

Regina called out, "Who's there?"

Her door swung open and in walked Emma.

"How'd you get in here?" Regina said, surprised.

"Your mom let me in." Emma told her.

"I didn't know mother was home," replied Regina. Usually her mother would inform her that she was home so that she knew when to come down to dinner, but no such interaction had occurred yet.

"Oh… well she did. You can go ask her if you like." Emma responded, perplexed as to why Regina was acting so weird about it.

"No, no, never mind. It's fine." Emma walked further into the room and looked around. "So what're you up to?"

Regina watched the girl walk over to her dresser and look at the trinkets on display there. "Just doing homework for Biology, don't you have homework as well?"

"Nah, homework isn't my thing. I thought you'd know that by now." Emma moved on from the dresser and took a seat on the plush chair next to Regina's bed. She remained silent for a minute before speaking again. "So I waited for you today."

Regina looked up from her homework. "What?'

"Weren't you supposed to have debate today? I was going to walk home with you."

Regina looked curiously at her. "Debate was cancelled so I went home early, sorry."

"No it wasn't, I went to the classroom and you weren't there. Where'd you go?"

"Nowhere! I just didn't feel like going today, is that a crime? I'd think something like that would be right up your alley." Regina was starting to get upset. Why was Emma so concerned with where she'd been? It wasn't necessarily because she didn't like the curiosity; she just didn't want to tell the other girl she'd been with Daniel because she knew it'd just make things worse. But it seemed like the blonde could read her mind.

"You were with Daniel weren't you?" Emma crossed her arms and stared at Regina.

"So what if I was, you aren't my mother."

"No, but I am your friend and I thought we were walking home together. You could have at least told me you had other plans." Emma sounded more hurt than angry now but that did nothing to help Regina's mood.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I had to inform you of everything I do in my life. I would like to stand up now, is that okay with you?"

"Regina stop being ridiculous. I was just concerned, you don't have to get angry." Emma stood up and walked closer.

Regina got up off the bed to meet her in the middle of her room.

"Well maybe you should be more concerned about someone else. I don't need you to look after me!"

Emma let out a groan of frustration. "Fine! You want to be left alone? Then I won't bother you anymore. Sorry I wasted your time."

Emma brushed past Regina and walked out of her room. Regina could hear heavy footfalls on the stares and the distant sound of the front door opening and closing. The brunette ran a hand through her hair before covering her face with both hands and taking in a deep breath. She didn't know why she snapped at Emma. She knew the blonde was just concerned. The scenario replayed itself through her mind and she immediately regretted her actions. But it was too late now, Emma was gone. She hoped the girl would be at school so she could apologize.

She knew trying to study would just be a waste of time and she'd have to go over the material again so she closed her books and packed everything back up. She just wanted the rest of the evening to go faster so tomorrow would come and they could hopefully move past their first official fight as friends.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Regina woke up with the determination to fix her fight with Emma. She sped through her morning routine and before she knew it, was outside standing at the end of her driveway, waiting for the blonde. She checked her cellphone every few seconds hoping that time would move faster. As the minutes ticked by, she got increasingly concerned because Emma was late. She looked up and down the street but there was no sight of the blonde. She looked at her phone again; almost 10 minutes late now. If Regina didn't start walking, she'd be late for class.

Giving up hope, Regina started walking alone. She internally criticized herself for how she talked to her friend last night. There was no reason to get so upset when the blonde asked where she'd been, she knew it was just because Emma was concerned for her safety. Until Emma, she didn't think people were capable of that. She was so used to her mother trying to control everything she did and on first instinct, that's what it seemed like Emma was doing.

When Regina reached the school, she scanned the courtyard for any sign of the blonde. She still couldn't find her. As a last hope, she stood outside for a few minutes until the warning bell rang and she was forced to go inside.

Throughout the day, Regina kept thinking she got a glimpse of the girl but every time it just turned out to be another blonde. By lunch time, Regina was going crazy, and it was becoming noticeable.

"Are you looking for Daniel?" questioned Jefferson when they were waiting for the others to join them at the table.

"Don't be ridiculous, no, I'm not." Regina didn't have time for his petty questions about a boy, she was more concerned with where Emma could have gone off to.

"Then why do you look like you're searching for an axe murderer on the loose?"

Regina snapped. "Jefferson, leave me alone. I don't want to talk about it."

Her mind wandered as she kept an eye on the lunchroom door, darting to attention whenever it opened. Why did she care whether Emma was there? She knew Emma skipped school and yes, it bothered her but it had never concerned her to this degree. She knew part of it was because of the fight and wanting to clear the air between them but if she was honest with herself, she really just missed being with the blonde. They'd grown close and something about Emma's smile just made her day brighter; and she missed that.

Regina only noticed that her friends had been at the table when everyone around her stood up. The lunch bell must have gone off and she hadn't even heard it. Still no sign of Emma.

The pattern remained the same for the rest of the day. By the end of her last class, Regina gave up on seeing the blonde at all.

* * *

A week passed and still, Regina hadn't been able to find the blonde. She walked all over town hoping to find her. The library, grocery store, Granny's… Emma wasn't at any of them, ever. It was like she'd fallen off the face of the planet. One weekend afternoon, Regina came back home after a walk around town and was not prepared for the sight she found in her living room.

There was Emma, sitting in one of their chairs, across the room from Cora.

"What are you doing?!" Regina stomped further into the room.

"I'm reading, dear. An activity I would think would be acceptable in my own home." Cora didn't look up from her book so she missed the furious glare that Regina was sending Emma. The blonde just raised her shoulders in a shrug and remained where she was.

When Regina failed to respond, Cora looked up. "Did you hear me?"

"Y-yes, sorry mother, of course you can read. I was just surprised to see you home. I figured you'd be working." Regina stammered, trying to regain her thoughts that had mysteriously vanished with the appearance of Emma.

"They were handling things fine without me so I took the day off. Now run along, dear, you're distracting me." Cora flipped a page in her book, apparently nonchalant about a stranger being in her living room.

Regina didn't respond verbally but she slowly backed out of the room, eyes burning holes in Emma's frame, trying to get the girl to follow her. When she bumped into the door, Emma gave a jerk of the head and finally, she got up to silently follow her out of the room.

Once the living room door was closed behind them, Regina grabbed Emma's hand and yanked her up the stairs into her room.

"What did you think you were doing?! What were you doing sitting with my mother? Where have you been this past week?" Questions flew out of her mouth before she could stop them, not caring that she wasn't giving Emma time to respond.

Emma stayed quiet and just looked at her.

Getting angry again, Regina yelled. "WHAT!?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Grumbled Emma, staring at the carpet.

"What has your panties in a twist? You're the one that's been missing this past week! If anything, I should be the one upset, not you!"

"Nothing's wrong, I said don't worry about it."

"Well obviously something is bothering you because you clearly look upset. Either tell me about it or get over it."

"Regina, nothing is bothering me, I just came over to see how you're doing." Regina could tell Emma was lying. The blonde wouldn't raise her head up from staring at the apparently fascinating carpet.

"You're lying. Tell me! I'm supposed to be your friend right?"

"It's none of your fucking business alright?" Emma finally snapped. She raised her head and met Regina's concerned eyes with her own. Emma sighed and tried to calm herself. "It's just, I waited for you the other day because I thought you liked hanging out and when you weren't there I didn't know what happened to you and I was scared."

Regina lips parted in stunned surprise. Emma wasn't one for being emotional or letting her feelings show. She wasn't sure how to respond and once again Emma surprised her.

"I'm sorry," sighed the blonde.

"You're actually apologizing?"

Regina noticed a slight blush on Emma's cheeks. "Don't make a big deal out of it, god. I'm not that terrible of a person."

"I just… didn't expect you to apologize. Thank you." Regina gave the girl a small smile and Emma offered one in return, although it still looked a little pained. "And I wanted to say sorry as well. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that and I tried to find you to tell you but you weren't at school and-"

"It's fine, Regina. I shouldn't have gotten so upset about it."

"You had every right to be. Can we call this a truce?" Regina asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Emma nodded her head in reply.

"Good, I have some homework to do. Want to stay and hang out for a little while?"

"Sure, if it's okay with your mom. I did tell her I was waiting for you so we could work on a project."

"Then that should be fine, I was wondering why you were sitting in there. She doesn't usually let me have visitors." Regina was relieved to know that Emma had at least enough common sense on how to interact with her mother.

Regina grabbed her book bag and made herself comfortable on the bed; and like the week before, Emma went to sit in the big comfy chair. Regina could feel Emma's eyes on her and it was making her fidget. She finally looked up and spoke. "Do you not have any homework?"

"You know I don't see the point, I'm not going to go anywhere with it anyway. I'll be stuck in this shitty town forever."

"Emma."

"Ugh, sorry. I'll be stuck in this… crappy… town forever."

"Well you will be if you don't do your homework, you still need to graduate." Regina still couldn't get over the fact that Emma didn't take school seriously.

"Let's just not talk about me, how about that. How are you? How's school going?"

"It's going well, I'm excelling in all of my classes and mother's been proud." She hesitates for a second, becoming shy. "…And I think Daniel might ask me to homecoming."

At the mention of Daniel, Emma stiffens. "Oh yeah? What makes you think that?"

Not really noticing Emma's uncomfortableness, Regina gushed. "Well, we've grown really close since school started and he's always really shy around me and the others tease him constantly about it. Jefferson and Kathryn are also convinced he's going to ask but time is running out. Homecoming is just around the corner. I kind of hope he asks me because I've never been to a dance before and I could maybe convince mother to let me go since it's senior year."

As Regina continued to gush, Emma got more and more upset. She bit her lip, wanting to let Regina get the feelings out but at the same time she just wanted to leave. She tried her hardest to remain supportive. "He probably will ask you, you're an amazing girl and if he doesn't see that then he's a douchebag."

Regina let that one slide and smiled at her friend. "Thank you, what about you? Anyone you want to have ask you?"

Emma stayed silent for a minute but continued to look at Regina. "Nah, not really. I don't really do dances."

"Well you should come anyway! Jefferson is going stag and you could come with us!"

Emma laughed, despite being slightly pained. "Yeah I don't think so. I've never really gotten along with them. I think it's better if I just don't go."

"We'll see, maybe the certain someone you want to have ask you, because I know there is someone, I can tell, will ask and then we can at least see each other."

"I don't think that's going to happen… but okay, whatever you say."

The subject dropped and Regina went back to doing her homework. Emma let Regina work in silence until she noticed that the brunette was starting to nod off.

"Hey I'm gonna go, you should get some sleep." Emma got up from her chair and made her way to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright, Emma, see you tomorrow." The blonde left and Regina got ready for bed, quickly falling asleep, anxious to see her friend again in the morning.


	7. Chapter 7

Emma was leaning against the house when Regina walked outside the next morning. The girls greeted each other, eager to let their friendship return to normal. They walked to school, talking about irrelevant things, just happy to be in each other's company again. When they reached the school, Regina noticed Emma grow silent. She turned to look at the girl and followed her gaze. Daniel was leaning against a tree and waving at her, beckoning her to come over.

"Hey, Emma, give me a minute okay? I'm just going to see what he wants." Regina said eagerly.

Emma scowled and started walking towards the front doors. "Yeah, whatever."

Regina watched her for a minute before making her way over to the teenager.

"Hi Daniel, what's up?" Greeted the shy girl.

"Hey, Regina. Nothing really, just wanted to see how you're doing." Daniel rubbed the back of his neck, clearly nervous about something.

"Oh, I'm doing fine, thank you, and you?" Regina's brow furrowed in curiosity.

"I'm good…" Daniel hesitated for a second. "Say, I actually did kind of want to ask you something."

Regina shifted from one foot to the other, sensing what was coming next. "Okay, go ahead. You can ask me anything."

"Well, if you aren't doing anything, would you want to come with me to the stables sometime? I'll teach you how to ride." Daniel looked at the girl hopefully, willing her to say yes.

Even knowing what he was going to ask still surprised Regina. Her palms started to sweat so she wiped them on her jeans. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she wasn't convinced he couldn't hear it. "You mean… like a date?"

"Well, yeah. If you wanted," Daniel gave her a shy smile. "I mean, if you don't want to I obviously won't make you but I think-"

"Of course."

"Wait… what?" Daniel was shocked into silence after Regina's agreement.

"Of course I want to go with you, Daniel." Regina gave him a sad smile. "But I'm not sure if mother would allow it. I've never been on a date before."

"Oh… yeah, no, I completely understand. Maybe some other time then." Daniel looked like the world had completely crumbled from under him. He rubbed his foot in the ground, uprooting the grass, and steadfastly refused to look at Regina.

Thoughts raced through the brunette's head. She desperately wanted to spend the day with Daniel, especially getting to be around horses. She'd always loved them growing up but her mother never allowed her to try riding. And Daniel was a nice boy; she really did like him and wouldn't mind getting to know him better. If only she could get around her mother somehow.

With a deep breath, Regina gave in, unwilling to let her mother control every part of her. "No wait, Daniel. I'm sorry, I would love to go to the stables with you."

"Are you sure? I didn't want to try and force you or anything." Regina could tell the flicker of hope had returned to him.

"Yes, I'm sure. I don't say things I don't mean." She sent him a big smile, hoping to convince him that she really was genuine.

"Well great then! Can I pick you up around eleven? Is that too early?"

"No, eleven should be fine. I can't wait. But would it be okay if I meet you there?" Regina couldn't get rid of the huge grin plastered on her face and Daniel had one to match but she didn't want her mother to see Daniel so if she drove herself she could give another excuse as to where she was going to be.

"Yeah, that should be fine!"

The moment was broken when both teens heard Daniel's name being yelled from behind Regina. They both looked and a group of guys were running around with a football, trying to get Daniel to come and join them. Daniel looked down at Regina. "I'm gonna see what they want, I'll talk to you later okay? Have a good day!"

Regina watched Daniel run off and meet with his other friends. Realizing she didn't have much time before school started, she made her way to the entrance and walked inside. Unsuspecting, Regina let out a squeak when she found her way blocked. Emma had been waiting for her just inside the doors.

"What did he want?" Regina noticed a strange look in the blonde's eyes, almost as if she were hurt.

Regina grew shy and twirled a loose piece of hair around her finger. "I'll tell you later, okay? I need to get to my locker before class."

Regina swerved around the blonde and walked down the hallway, leaving a pained girl standing in her wake.

* * *

After Biology, Regina made her way to her locker to drop off her books. She put in the combination and pulled open the door. A tiny piece of paper fluttered to the ground and Regina inquisitively picked it up. She unfolded the piece of paper; a short note in messy handwriting asked her to meet them outside. Thinking Daniel had something else he wanted to ask, Regina quickly shoved her books in the locker and ran to the restroom to fix her make up.

Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she snuck down the hallway and exited the school. She looked around for the tall boy but instead, her eyes rested on blonde curls that looked oddly familiar.

"Emma?"

The blonde turned around and smiled. "Hey."

Not bothering with pleasantries, Regina asked, "What're you doing out here?"

Emma bit her lip anxiously. "It was actually me that left you that note."

"You? Why?"

"I wanted to talk to you and couldn't wait any longer. Follow me." Emma walked down the stone steps away from the school. Regina hesitated a minute before following after her. The school was near to the forest and Emma led the girl into the shade of the tall pines.

"Geeze, Em, did you take me out here to murder me or something?" Joked Regina, trying to relieve the tension.

"No, I was just bored and didn't feel like being in class anymore so I thought I'd get you to ditch with me." Emma sent her a smirk.

"Emma, who do you think I am? Would I ever ditch with you?" Regina sent her an exasperated look.

"Nah, I know, I just like teasing you. You always make it so easy."

"I do not!"

"Fine, I'll let you win. This one time. But I still want to know what Daniel wanted to talk to you about this morning."

Regina's eyes lit up. "He asked me out, Em! Finally!"

Emma swallowed and turned away. "Oh…"

"What? Aren't you happy for me?" asked Regina.

Emma looked up towards the sky, avoiding looking at Regina. "Sure I am. Congratulations, princess. I'm glad you're happy. You deserve to be."

"Emma? Why are you acting strange? What's wrong?" Concerned, Regina moved over to put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Emma shrugged off the hand and stepped further away before turning around and facing the girl, an overly bright smile plastered on her face. "No, nothing's wrong. I'm really happy for you. When is it?"

"This Saturday… Oh my god, what am I going to wear? I don't have any good date clothes! I've never been on a date! Emma, what do I do?" With her excitement, the brunette didn't notice the blonde's smile turn into a frown.

"Regina, you walk around looking like a freaking model. You can wear anything. But do you want me to come over and help you?"

Regina's eyes lit up like she'd just won a million dollars. "Would you do that for me? Oh my god, I'd love you forever!"

"I would love to help you. I'll always be here for you. What time do you want me to come over?"

"Well I'm supposed to meet him at the stables at eleven, so maybe like around ten?"

"Yeah, that'll be fine. But hey, I wasn't lying about the ditching, I'm gonna skip the rest of the day. You sure you don't want to come?"

"Emma, I really wish you wouldn't."

"I know, but I can't handle any more today. I need a break."

Concerned, Regina started to ask if there was something she could do to help. "No, it's really fine, Regina. Don't worry about me. I'll see you later."

The blonde walked out of the forest and Regina tailed after her. They both went their separate ways, the brunette more worried than ever. She knew Emma didn't like talking about her personal life but she was starting to grow concerned. It seemed like the blonde was becoming more distant, especially with school, and it worried the girl.

The rest of the day passed in a haze, she was too preoccupied with her thoughts of Emma. Even the prospect of a future date with Daniel couldn't shake the idea that something big was going on with Emma. Even though she knew something was changing, she knew it wouldn't do to dwell on it and vowed to try and put it out of her mind until the blonde thought it was the right time.


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of the school week went by crazily fast and, before she knew it, it was already Saturday morning. Clothes were flung over every surface of Regina's room. She had tried on every outfit in her possession and nothing seemed right. Dressed in a bra and panties, the girl stomped across the room to pick up a previously discarded pair of jeans.

Regina had her back turned when the door to her room suddenly opened and heard, "Hey, Regina. I'm here."

Both girls let out a squeak, one quickly wrapped her arms around her body and the other turned around. Regina could see the back of Emma's neck flush a deep red. "I-I'm so, so sorry! I should have knocked first."

"No it's okay, I should have locked my door. But I suppose it's not a big deal, you're here to help me get dressed. You can turn around. It just surprised me is all." Regina herself was still a little red and it didn't help when Emma turned around and looked her up and down.

Regina grew self-conscious at having the other girl stare at her figure. She bit her lip and crossed her arms over her chest. It lighten the mood, she tried to joke. "Like what you see?"

Emma just slightly shook her head. "Oh yeah, you look good."

The light hearted comment ignited a strange tingling sensation in Regina's stomach. It shouldn't matter what Emma thought of her. She was just a friend. Friends could think their friend looked good, right? She tried to think about what this meant when she suddenly remembered why Emma was really there.

"Oh my god, the date! Emma, I have been trying on clothes for an hour and nothing looks good! I'm running out of time, help me!" Regina went around the room collecting clothes while Emma followed her with her eyes.

Emma walked over to the bed and started sifting through the clothes there and pulled out a loose fitting green top. "What about this one? It goes well with your eyes."

Regina looked at Emma as if she'd grown two heads. "Are you kidding me? That one is hideous, it makes me look fat!"

"It does not and you aren't fat. You're crazy, but okay, pass on that one then."

She dug around some more while Regina watched. "What about this one? It's simple but the color is pretty."

Regina took the dark purple t-shirt and held it up in front of her before pulling it over her head. It clung tightly to her and showed off a generous amount of cleavage. "I suppose this looks okay, it's not too much, is it?" She waved her hand in front of her chest.

"No, it's not. It looks great on you." Emma blushed and turned away to look through one of Regina's drawers.

Regina watched her for a minute, curious. "Thank you, Em." Regina paused, "Why are you blushing?"

"What? I'm not blushing, what're you talking about?" Regina noticed the girl's hands go still, body rigid.

"You are blushing. Why?"

"I'm not, I'm just hot. It's warm in here, don't you think?" Emma was flustered, Regina could tell.

"It's not that warm, no."

"Well, you also aren't wearing many clothes, so," Emma's voice cracked and she coughed awkwardly to clear it. "You can't really talk."

"Does me not wearing clothes make you uncomfortable?"

Emma shook her head, still resolutely looking away. "No, it's fine." Emma pulled her hands out of the drawer and Regina saw she was holding a pair of dark wash jeans. "Why don't you wear these with that shirt? They always looked great on you."

Regina walked over to grab them from the other girl and their fingers brushed, Emma quickly pulled away but Regina thought nothing of it. "Yeah, thanks."

Regina smoothed out her shirt and looked herself over in the mirror. "I suppose this'll have to do. I'm running out of time."

She pulled her hair into a loose pony and grabbed her bag. "I should get going; I don't want to be late. Will you walk me out?"

Emma nodded and they both quietly tiptoed through the house, hoping Cora wouldn't hear. Just as they were about to make it out the front door, Regina heard her mother call out to her. "Regina, where do you think you're going?"

Regina threw Emma an exasperated look and opened the door. "I'm going out with a friend to work on a project for school. We'll be at the library."

"Who?"

Regina gestured to the other girl. "Emma."

Emma gave the older woman a wave but she didn't look up from her paperwork. "Alright, but I want you home promptly at six for dinner. Do not be late."

"I will mother, thank you." The girls left the room and walked to the front door. Regina held it open for Emma and they made their way to the car.

Regina's heart started to flutter now that the date was so close. "Thank you again for coming over to help, I really appreciate it."

"You don't need to thank me, I'm your friend. Good luck and have fun okay?" Emma's smile doesn't quite reach her eyes but Regina doesn't notice.

"I will!" She hopped in her car and backed out of the driveway, leaving Emma to watch her go.

* * *

Once she was alone in her car, the doubt started to set in. Should she really be doing this? Mother wouldn't approve of her dating but it wasn't like she had anyone else in mind. An image of Emma came unbidden into her head. No, she didn't like Emma like that. And even if she did, it's not like mother would approve of her either.

Without fully realizing it, she'd driven all the way to the stables and was now parked in the parking lot. She kept her hands on the steering wheel and stared straight ahead for a minute, contemplating if she was actually ready to do this. Gathering her courage, she took a deep breath, shut off the engine and stepped out of the car.

She walked up to the big building and saw Daniel waiting for her outside. He was dressed casually in a plaid shirt and dirty jeans. She had to admit that he was handsome, he was a good boy. He looked over in her direction and a smile lit up his face. He waved at her and she made her way over to him.

"Hey! To be honest I wasn't sure you'd show up but I'm really glad you did."

"Of course, I came. I told you I wanted to, didn't I?" Despite the promising words, Regina was still unsure if she truly meant them.

"Yeah you did, well, why don't I take you to meet the horses?"

"Sure, that'd be great. I've always wanted to go riding." He led her over to a large building filled with individual stalls and guides her to one occupied by a beautiful black mare.

"This is Alouette."

"You mean like the French song?" questioned Regina.

"What song?"

"There's this really terrible children's song called Alouette."

"Oh, I had no idea. Her previous owners called her that and we just kept it."

Regina nodded in understanding and watched him as we went through the basic technique of saddling and bridling a horse. Once Alouette was finished, he walked over to the next stall and led out a gorgeous chestnut gelding.

"This one will be yours, his name is Rocinante."

"He's so beautiful," whispered Regina.

"Yeah, he is. Why don't you take the reins and lead him outside to the pen." She gingerly took the reins from him and pulled the horse to get him walking. They got outside and Rocinante waited patiently by her side.

Daniel gave her a mini lesson on the basics. He taught her how to properly sit, what the different gaits felt like, and how to stop. Once she got the hang of those he suggested they go out for a ride on one of the trails.

He led them into the woods and the ride was very relaxing. The sun was shining and the fall colors were starting to brighten the trees. They remained silent, just enjoying each other's company and listening to the hoof beats of their steeds.

Within half an hour, they had gotten decently far in the middle of nowhere and Regina was starting to wonder where Daniel was taking her. Before too long, Daniel was pulling his horse to a stop in a clearing. It was truly beautiful. They were in a small meadow and small wildflowers were still blooming in the tall grass. In the center of the field lay a blanket and a picnic basket.

"Daniel, what… Did you plan all this?" Regina is stunned at his thoughtfulness.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be nice to do something other than dinner and a movie. Do you like it?" He took her hand and led her over to the blanket.

She sat down next to him and opened the basket to start taking out the food. "Yeah, I do. It's really sweet."

"Good, I'm glad you like it."

They ate in companionable silence and were just about finished when Daniel shifted and Regina noticed a slight tension between them. She looked at him and she could tell he was clearly nervous. He looked a little clammy and was playing with a blade of grass, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Daniel? Is something wrong?" Regina asked, concerned.

"No, no. Nothing's wrong. I'm just a little nervous." He gave a nervous chuckle. "I've never done this before."

"What is it? You can tell me anything." She had a feeling she knew where this was going and was already growing anxious as well.

She noticed his Adam's apple dip as he swallowed. "Regina, I wanted to do this earlier but I was really nervous. You're a really great girl and I really like you and if you'd let me, I'd like to take you to Homecoming. Will you go with me?"

The pressure of making him happy was getting to her. She didn't want him to be upset, especially after putting together such a nice date. He just looked so hopeful so she took a deep breath, smiled and said, "Sure, I would love to go with you."

Looking for something to distract her from the guilt, she checked her watch and realized she only had an hour before she was supposed to be home for dinner. "Daniel! It's so late! I need to get home or mother will be really upset."

"Alright, I know a quicker way back, don't worry." They quickly packed up the blanket and basket and rode back to the stables.

When they got the horses brushed down and put back in their stalls, Regina hugged Daniel and thanked him for the wonderful day before running over to her car and driving away.

* * *

"So how was your date?" Cora asked, nonchalant.

Regina's body went cold. "W-what? I haven't been on a date."

"Don't lie to me Regina Mills; don't make it worse for yourself." Cora's eyes were hard as she glared at her daughter. "I thought I raised you better than this. After all the things I've done for you, you explicitly lie to me about where you're going even after I've told you no dating."

Regina's mind whirled with how she could have possibly found out. Did Emma let something slip on accident? Fury consumed her. Emma was the only one who had ever been around Cora and was the only one that knew about the date. The fury soon evolved to hurt and betrayal. Why would Emma do something like that?

"I'm sorry mother. I just, it's my last year of school and I really liked Daniel." Admitted Regina.

"You 'liked' the boy? So the infatuation is over?" Cora probed her daughter.

"Well… no, I don't know why I said that." Regina paused. She liked Daniel but a nagging doubt wouldn't leave her alone. To prove herself, she decided to confess. "He asked me to homecoming."

"You'll just have to tell the boy you had a change in plans." Her mother's voice was firm.

"Mother, please! I already said yes, I can't hurt him like that!" Regina was fighting not to cry, she knew that'd just make things worse.

"We'll see, it could be good for your social skills later on, but I no longer trust you. Gold was kind enough to come visit me and tell me about this 'date'."

"Wait, Mr. Gold? How did he know?" Regina was shocked. She tried to recall that day but couldn't remember ever seeing him nearby.

"He said he was walking by and wanted to speak to you about your project. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was for me to find out via someone other than my own daughter?" Cora's voice remained calm but Regina could tell she was furious.

"I'm sorry mother, I won't do it again. I promise." The girl bowed her head in submission.

"Good, see that you don't or there will be consequences."

Regina finished her dinner and asked to be excused. She ran up to her room and locked herself in, needing time to de-stress.

* * *

Later that night, Regina was getting ready for bed when she heard a faint tapping sound. She paused, listening. A few seconds later, it happened again, over near her window. She walked over to the glass and peeked out. Bright blonde hair was lit up by the moon and Regina shook her head and went to turn off the lights before climbing into bed. She didn't want to risk having her mother hear them and get in more trouble than she already was.

Unfortunately, it didn't appear that Emma was willing to give up because the clinking sound kept coming, with more and more frequency.

Regina let out a loud sigh and climbed back out of bed. She made her way to the window and pushed it open. She went back to the bed without waiting to see if Emma made it up safely. She heard muttered curses and a branch snap before Emma pulled herself up into the room.

"Jesus Regina, a little help woulda been nice." Emma walked over to the other girl's bed and sat down on the edge.

"Well if you had waited until the morning, you wouldn't have had to climb up, would you?" snarked Regina.

"I didn't want to wait, I wanted to see you and ask how the date was." Emma asked impatiently. Regina could tell the girl just wanted to make sure she was happy.

"It went really well, he was very sweet. He took me out on a trail ride and we went to this beautiful meadow where we had a picnic." There was a slight hesitation in Regina's voice but Emma didn't appear to notice.

"Wow, that is sweet. He seems really nice, you must really like him." Emma bit her lip.

"Well, to be honest, I do kind of have doubts… but he asked me to homecoming and… I already said yes." Regina played with a corner of her bedspread.

"Oh…" murmured Emma. "And you don't want to go with him?"

"I don't know! I kind of want to but I'm still just not sure." Regina looked at Emma, taking in her features. She couldn't stop the image of the both of them going to the dance together from popping into her head. She tried not to let the odd idea affect her features so Emma wouldn't question her. "I just don't know if he's the one for me."

"Well you don't need to decide right now, you've got plenty of time." Emma gave her an unconvincing smile.

"I know, but I'm just not sure - and why waste the time on someone not important to me. Plus, I don't want to string him along." Regina shrugged her shoulders.

"True…" Emma hesitated, unsure if she should ask the question on the tip of her tongue. "Did… did you have someone else in mind?"

Regina chewed her lip. "I don't know."

Emma's eyes snapped to the girl's face, bright with hope. "You don't know?"

"Yeah, I just… " Regina shook her head violently. "Anyway, enough talk about me. What about you? You must like someone, right?"

Emma was taken aback. "What?"

"Yeah, come on! I've been telling you all about my love life. What about you? You never talk about yourself." Regina readily looked at Emma.

Emma fidgeted, stood up and paced around the room. "No, I don't like anyone."

Regina gave her an unamused look. "Your pacing would say otherwise."

Emma sighed and wrung her hands. "Maybe, but…" She sighed again. "I don't think she likes me back."

"S-she?" Regina questioned, stunned. "You're gay?"

"Is that a problem?" asked Emma, voice hardened.

"No!" Regina couldn't believe what just happened. Emma liked girls. Thoughts flittered in and out of her head rapidly. Trying to focus, she asked, "So who is it, anyone I know?"

Emma took a deep breath and looked at her. Their eyes met and Emma confessed, "It's you."

The truth still shook her to the bone. She wasn't prepared for this. She wasn't gay; she didn't like girls that way. Regina's heart raced as she tried to think of what to say. Regina could tell Emma was panicking and needed to answer fast; but she wanted to be honest.

"I-I just… I don't know if-" Regina stuttered.

"You know what? Forget I said anything-" Emma backpedalled.

"P-please, Em… Emma," Regina pleaded. "I really like you, but I don't think I have those kinds of f-feelings for you."

"Oh, yeah, no, that's fine. That's fine. No big deal. It's fine." Emma stuttered. "I'm just gonna go now."

Emma ran for the door and before Regina could even open her mouth, the blonde was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

The last few minutes replayed through Regina's mind.

_It's you. It's you. It's you._

Emma was a wonderful girl and they had a really deep connection that seemed unusual for _just friends_. She had to admit that she was good looking, that was nothing new. But she wasn't sure she was ready to jump into anything. And there was no way her mother would ever approve; but the thoughts were still there. Scenarios ran through her head of them together. Emma's bright smile and laugh always made her happy; and she wouldn't mind it doing that every day.

But she just wasn't ready. She couldn't do this. Being in a relationship with a girl scared her. It wasn't _normal_. She was afraid of what her mother would say, what her friends would say. She was supposed to go to college, get married to a nice man and pop out a few kids to continue the Mill's family name. This wasn't in her plan.

* * *

Regina was still awake when the sun came up; she hadn't slept at all last night.

Her eyes were bloodshot from crying and her whole body felt exhausted. She needed something to take her mind off of Emma.

She took out her books to begin studying and pulled out her assignment for Mr. Gold. She shouldn't have put it off for so long. It was due in a couple weeks and she had barely started. Settling into a new school and getting involved with Daniel had distracted her more than ever.

She had searched for reports online but nothing came up every time she searched. The library was no help, either. Her only other option was to start talking to people directly. She couldn't fail this report.

Regina quickly changed her clothes and gathered the little research she had found and a notebook. She ran down the stairs, got to her car and drove to the police station.

She pulled open the door to the building and walked inside. She was greeted by the receptionist and asked to speak to the sheriff.

A big, heavy set man came out to meet her and walked her back to his office.

"Now, what can I do for you, young lady?" asked the sheriff.

"I'm doing a project for school, sir, and wondered if you'd be able to help me." Regina took a seat across from him and opened her notebook, pen poised at the ready.

The man chortled. "Well, I can try! What's your project on?"

"I'm in an investigative journalism class and I'm doing a report about a missing girl and her family. She lived on Mifflin Street? Do you remember the case?"

The man instantly stood up and walked around the desk. "You need to leave right now, and I suggest you choose something else as your subject. I am not at liberty to discuss that case since it's still an ongoing investigation."

"But-but, sir!" He gestured for her to stand up and shuffled her out of his office before quickly shutting the door. Regina heard the lock click into place. "Sir! I just want to ask you a few questions!"

There was no response.

"Ugh! How am I supposed to get anything done if no one will talk to me?" She exclaimed out loud, not caring if the receptionist thought she was crazy.

She stomped out of the office and got back into her car.

When she got back home, instead of going inside she made her way across her front lawn, over to the neighbor's house. She walked up their front steps and pounded on the door. After waiting a few minutes the door creaked open and an elderly lady stuck her head out.

"Can I help you, dear?" The woman took a step out onto the front porch.

"Hello, ma'am, I live right next door…"

"Yes, yes I know who you are, it's not often someone moves into that house." Regina saw the woman's eyes dart in the direction of the house.

"That's actually what I came here to talk to you about. I'm doing a project for school and apparently a girl went missing. Did you know her?"

The old lady shook her head. "It's such a shame, she could have been a good kid but she was trouble. I didn't know her or the family well. Felt it was better to not get involved. Sorry, dear, I don't think I'll be of much help."

Regina sighed. "Yes, that's how things have been going. At this rate, I'm not going to finish in time."

The woman gave her a sympathetic look before stepping back into her house. "If there's anything else I can do, I'll try."

"Thank you, ma'am, I'll let you know." Regina turned away and walked back to her own house.

She passed the rest of the day scouring the internet for any reports that could be found. Her last option was talking to the teachers in school the next day. If that didn't work, she'd have to talk to Mr. Gold about changing her topic.

* * *

The next day, Regina left for school early to avoid Emma. She walked into the building and entered a random classroom. The teacher was sitting at his desk, presumably correcting papers.

"Excuse me, sir?"

He looked up and shook his head. "Office hours are after school, you'll have to come back then."

"Please…" Regina looked at his desk. "Mr. Franklin, I just have a quick question and I really need help."

He put down his pen and rubbed his eyes. "Alright, what can I do for you, Miss?"

"There was a student that used to go here, she went missing a few years ago. And then her family went missing as well. Do you know anything about it?"

"Oh, yeah, Elizabeth, I think it was. She never came to class and was always causing trouble. I assumed she just quit coming finally. What a waste." He shook his head in shame.

"So you didn't know about her disappearance?" Regina questioned.

"No, I did. I just assumed it was a tale the teenagers were telling to scare each other."

"So basically, you know nothing, great. Thanks for the help." Without waiting for a response, she walked out of the room.

She went to several other classrooms but all of the teachers told similar stories. She was a troublesome girl who couldn't be bothered with school and liked to cause trouble. Regina gave up, she would have to switch topics.

* * *

At the end of the day, Regina stayed behind to talk to Mr. Gold. She approached his desk and he looked up, curious.

"Now what can I do for you today, Miss Mills? Project coming along well?" He had a funny look on his face, almost as if he knew why she was there.

"That's actually what I came to talk to you about. I'm having a really difficult time. I can hardly find anything online and no one will talk to me. I've been to the police, teachers, neighbors and they all just say she was a difficult teen who didn't really matter. I actually wanted to know if it was okay to switch subjects, I just don't think I'll be able to write a satisfactory report."

"You should have come to me sooner with this, Regina. Your mother would not be pleased to know you procrastinated so much." Mr. Gold threatened.

"I know, sir, please don't tell her. If you let me switch, I promise I will get it done and it'll be perfect. I promise."

Mr. Gold sighed. "I thought you had it in you, Regina, or I wouldn't have suggested it. I'm very disappointed but I'll let you switch."

"Really? Thank you so much, Mr. Gold. I really appreciate it!"

Regina turned around and walked back to the door, anxious to get to the library to start researching a new subject.

"Actually, Miss Mills? On second thought, I think you should stick with the disappearance."

"But, sir, you said I could-"

"I know what I said, and I'm changing my mind."

"Seriously?"

"Do I look like I joke around, Miss Mills?" He threw her a piercing look and she flinched.

"No, sir. I'll do my best." She nodded her head and clutched her books to her chest.

"Good, see that you do."

She left the room, eager to get away from the man who just made her life ten times more difficult.


	10. Chapter 10

The week passed quickly and the Homecoming dance was soon upon the teens. Regina was able to convince her mother to let her attend the dance, if only to increase her social standing. She found a gorgeous black strapless dress that flared out at the waist and came to her mid-thigh. Daniel wasn't allowed to pick up Regina so she met him in the school parking lot and they walked in together. He did cleanup will in a dark dress shirt and black pants but Regina still couldn't help thinking what Emma would look like, even if she was still confused by the blonde.

The gym was packed with students and David and Regina went looking for their group of friends. They met up with Jefferson who was hanging out at a table while he watched David and Kathryn dance. Regina's eyes scanned the crowd, wondering if the blonde would choose to show up.

Daniel invited Regina to dance, she accepted and they walked out amid squished, smelly bodies. A loud pop song blared from the speakers and Regina quickly got lost in the beat. Daniel wasn't as sure as Regina, so he mainly just swayed on his feet and let Regina dance around him.

She let her mind float away from all of the confusion and she became lost in the music. As she spun, her eyes caught a glimpse of red and yellow. She stopped and did a double take. There was a girl a few paces away from them with her back to Regina. Long blond curls hung down from a loose crown braid and cascaded over a blood red dress. Had Emma decided to come to the dance? She suddenly found herself enamored with the girl, feeling a strong urge to go talk to her immediately. She abandoned Daniel without a word and pushed through bodies to get to the girl. Once within touching distance she raised a hand to tap her shoulder.

"Emma?" The brunette whispered, unable to be heard over the loud music.

The girl turned around. "May I help you?"

Regina backpedaled. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else."

The girl turned her back to Regina and the brunette felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. She imagined them both dancing together at the dance. Emma holding her close and resting her head on her shoulder. She was surprised when that image didn't make her uncomfortable. In fact, she wouldn't mind it happening at all. Regina thought about how her heart had raced when she thought the stranger was Emma. If the fluttering in her stomach and clammy hands were anything to go by, she'd say she was acting very similar to when she'd first realized she liked Daniel. She looked around for him and found him sitting with their group of friends. All of whom were looking in her direction, confused.

She suddenly felt an intense need to find Emma and without telling her friends where she was going, she went off running. Her eyes scanned the room as she went but the blonde still wasn't there. She reached the gym doors and pulled them opening, letting the cool air run over her body. She jogged down the hallway and stopped at the girl's bathroom, just in case Emma had gone in there and she'd missed her earlier. Unfortunately, the bathroom was filled with giggling girls, none of which the one she was looking for.

She ran back down the hallway and was just about to reach the front doors when a sound stopped her. The tapping of a cane resounded on the linoleum and Regina turned around to find Mr. Gold coming towards her.

"Leaving so soon, Miss Mills?" The man questioned, coming ever closer.

"Uh, yeah. I need to find a friend. She was supposed to come but didn't show up." Regina moved closer to the doors, eager to get away.

"Huh, that's interesting. Wonder where she disappeared to, she couldn't have gone far." Mr. Gold spoke, his voice sent shivers down Regina's spine.

"Was there something you needed? I'm rather in a hurry…"

"I just wanted to check if you'd had any more luck with your project."

"No, I haven't, I told you already, I've asked all around and no one will tell me anything." Regina was getting impatient; it wouldn't be long before she just left. Screw respect, she had to find Emma.

"I think… I may have something that will be of use to you, dear. I'm surprised you didn't think of it sooner." Mr. Gold's mysterious attitude got Regina's attention.

"What? What is it?" She took a step towards him.

"There's a book." He paused.

"What book? At the library? I've looked all over and haven't-"

"No, not at the library… In your house."

"In my- When have you been in my house? What book?" She was getting creeped out and Mr. Gold gave her a knowing grin.

"Well, not really a book, more of a journal per se." Mr. Gold looked at her as if she were missing the most obvious joke in the world. She thought about it for a minute but didn't get what Mr. Gold was hinting at.

"Mr. Gold, I really don't underst-"

And then it clicked. The journal. _The journal_. She'd forgotten all about it.

She thanked the eerie man and took off, Emma all but forgotten for the moment.


	11. Chapter 11

Regina raced up the stairs, two steps at a time, to get to her bedroom. She flung her door open and bolted over to her bed, skidded to a stop and hurled herself onto the floor, not caring about her dress. Crawling under the bed, Regina dug around miscellaneous objects until she found what she was looking for. The small red book was still there, covered in a coat of dust that made the girl sneeze. She inched out from under her bed, sat up on the floor and dusted off the cover. She wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for but she knew it had to be there. Forcing herself to remain calm, Regina slowly turned through the pages, looking for any sort of clue.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Regina turned the last page when she noticed it. There, written on the bottom of the inside cover, in tiny, cramped writing was a name:

'Emma'

That one name caused Regina's entire world to crumble. It couldn't just be a coincidence that her best friend and the person that owned this journal had the same name. This was a small town and there weren't that many Emma's.

Regina couldn't take her eyes off the four letters. How something so small could make such a large impact was astounding to the young girl. Time passed in a daze as Regina continued to sit there, hands shakily holding the damnable book.

"Hey, Regina, do you want to-" Emma came bounding into the room, unaware as to what her friend had just discovered. "Woah, what's wrong, Regina? Are you ok?"

The blonde hurried over to where her best friend was sitting and sat next to her.

Regina sniffled once before answering, her voice hard even when she appeared weak. "Do you know what this is?"

"What what is?" Emma asked before looking down. The color drained from Emma's face, skin going paler than it already was. Slowly, she lifted her eyes back up to take in Regina. "How-how did you find this? Where did you get it?!"

"That's not important right now." Regina's voice was hollow. "I want you to tell me what this is, is it yours?"

"Umm," Emma hesitated, unsure of how to answer.

"Tell me!"

Emma hesitated again before replying in barely a whisper. "Yes, it's mine."

"How… how even, did you live here or something? Why is it in my house?!" Regina's attitude seemed to come back. Her eyes were bright with anger, the muscles in her neck worked to contain an outburst.

"It's… kind of a long story." Emma was no longer able to look her friend in the eye, instead she kept her head downcast, fingers idly tracing patterns in the worn wooden floorboards.

"Well don't let that stop you, I have time! Do you see me doing anything else other than sitting here trying to comprehend what's happening right now?"

"Regina… I don't really know how to talk about it."

"Talk about WHAT?! Quit dancing around the edges and just tell me!"

Emma sighed, resigned that there was going to be no distracting her from the truth. "The answer to your question was yes."

"What question, Emma? I've asked many in the last few minutes, be more specific."

"Yes, I did used to live here."

"What? Why? Why would you just move next door, is there something wrong with the house? Is it dangerous?" Panic filled Regina, if her and her mother were in danger she wanted to leave right away, forget about packing. Even with her rocky relationship with her family, she still cared and didn't want anything bad to happen.

"No, nothing like that. The house is fine."

Before Emma could continue, Regina butted in again, "Then why move just next door, that doesn't make any sense."

"Because…" Emma paused, someone tracing patterns on the floor even more ferociously, like she was trying to wear a hole in the wood. "Because, I don't really… live there…"

"What?" Regina didn't even have the words for what was happening.

"I lied to you, I don't live next door."

"Then where do you live? Why would you lie about something like that?" Regina tried to remain calm, she didn't want to explode at her best friend but nothing was making sense and she was losing her patience.

"This isn't easy for me to answer, okay!" Emma curled herself up into a ball, arms wrapped protectively around her legs. She tried to meet Regina's eyes but the look her friend was giving her was too intense and she went back to staring at the ground. "I don't really… live… anywhere."

"You mean like you're homeless? Have you been homeless all this time?! Do you need somewhere to stay, why didn't you tell me sooner?! Maybe I can convince mother to-"

"No! Regina you don't understand." Emma cut her friend off. Finally gathering the courage she needed to tell the truth. "I don't live next door because I don't need a place to live."

Emma could tell Regina was about ready to jump in again so she mustered all of her strength and revealed the full truth. "I died."

Silence filled the room around the two girls. Emotions charged the atmosphere around them.

"What… do you mean… you died?" Regina asked in complete shock. Her mind couldn't even begin to comprehend what she had just heard. This had to be some kind of joke; it didn't make any sense.

"I mean, I'm dead. I'm no longer living with the living. I'm sorry, I wish I could put it better but I've obviously never done this before and I'm not sure-"

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" It seemed as if Regina's shock had passed into the anger phase. Regina hardly ever swore so Emma knew the girl was genuinely upset.

"No, I'm not kidding you Regina. I wouldn't do something like that." Emma tried to rest her hand on Regina's arm but Regina recoiled, a look of horror clear on her face.

Everything in Regina's head was spinning. Nothing made sense, everything they'd been through together had been a lie. Regina felt like she was suffocating, her breaths clawing at her throat, begging to be released, but her body wouldn't let them. She could hear gasps in the background, not realizing they were her own.

Emma panicked, desperately wanting to help the girl that she so deeply cared for but she didn't know what to do. Again she reached out to try and hold Regina but this proved too much for the other girl and as soon as Emma's fingers briefly gazed warm skin, Regina was up and sprinting from the room, leaving a torn Emma in her wake.

* * *

She couldn't believe that Emma was the girl she was doing her report on. Her mind flashed back to a conversation they'd when they were just getting to know each other.

"_And they were never found? How could a whole family just disappear?"_

"_I don't know. Like I said, it was before I moved here. You'd probably be better off asking someone who's lived here longer." There was a strange edge to Emma's voice and Regina was growing increasingly annoyed at having people give her half answers._

"_But I want to know! Why does no one talk about it?"_

"_I can't help you, Regina! I'm sorry but you know as much as I do." With that, the blonde made her way back down the tree and landed with a thump on the ground. "Look, from being around here a little bit longer than you, I can tell you that it's a touchy subject. Just be careful who you ask, okay?" Emma moved closer to Regina, holding eye contact. "I'm sorry but I should get home. My parents don't know where I am and I don't want to get in trouble."_

Emma had lied to her… blatantly lied. Anger fueled her motivation and she wouldn't let being upset stop her from finding out exactly what happened. She would get answers.

* * *

She walked into the police station with her head held high and demanded to talk to the sheriff once again. "I really need to talk to you about this, I need to know or Mr. Gold-"

The sheriff's eyes widened. "Oh, did you say Mr. Gold wanted the files? Of course, ah, let me get those for you. Just one second…"

The sheriff left the room and not two minutes later, came back with a thick manila envelope filled with papers. She thanked the man and left his office with him still stuttering apologies to Mr. Gold.

Regina left the police department with the thick files bunched under her arm. She had calmed down considerably, but that didn't mean she was ready to face Emma again. She needed a safe place to look at these files in peace, without getting disrupted.

She walked down Main Street until her eyes fell upon the old clock tower. Making her way over to the building, she looked around to check if anyone was watching her and quickly slipped inside. She made her way up the spiral staircase until she reached the top and sat on the dusty ground. She laid out the files in front of her and stared at them. One finger traced the outline of the file folder as she debated if she wanted to take this step. She could switch projects; she would get Mr. Gold to understand. Tell him she couldn't find enough information to do a decent piece.

But Regina knew she wouldn't be able to resist. Her curiosity would win out. Before she could second guess herself, she flipped open the first file.

* * *

Hours had passed and Regina didn't even realize it. Tears silently streamed down her face as she closed the last file. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess as she tried to take in everything she had just read.

She had bounced from foster home to foster home since she was a baby. Never knew a parent's love and concern. The homes that she did stay in for more than a few weeks turned out to be abusive and neglectful.

She had no idea her best friend's life had been so miserable. She didn't act like it; Emma seemed happy enough.

"Oh, Emma," Regina sighed, so heartbroken over everything she had just read. At this moment, she didn't care that her friend had lied to her. She wanted to be there for the blonde, the only one who had ever truly cared for her and not asked for anything in return. She needed to see her.

An idea popped into her head and she almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it, but by now, how much more crazy could it get?

Regina sat up straight and gathered the files into a neat pile. She remained cross legged on the floor, her hands rested on her knees and she called out, not really expecting a response.

"Emma?"

Tense seconds passed as Regina waited. Suddenly a voice from behind greeted her.

"Regina?" The blonde was standing in the doorway, cast in shadow but her bright hair illuminated her silhouette like a halo. The sight took Regina's breath away.

"Emma, oh god!" Regina was up off the ground in a flash and raced to her best friend. Without a second thought, she flung her arms around the other girl and enveloped her in a strong hug. Emma hesitantly wrapped her arms around Regina and they remained silent while they each found comfort in the others embrace.

Regina was the first to pull back and look up at the older girl. "I'm so sorry for everything, Emma. How did you even stand being in that house again?"

"It was easy, you were there." There was a pause as Regina fully took in the meaning of those words. Emma turned a light shade of red and quickly back tracked. "Sorry, I-I shouldn't have said that. I don't know why-"

Regina hushed her. "No, it's okay Em. I understand."

Regina let a small smile grace her lips. They remained silent for a minute as both took in each other's features, memorizing every inch. They both seemed to realize they were still holding the other and broke apart, taking a step back.

Regina gave her head a small shake and walked back over to where she had been sitting. Emma followed after her, hands shoved deep in her pockets. Regina had already sat back down by the time Emma reached her and she bit her lip before making the decision to join her.

The two girls sat across from each other, not saying anything. Regina was hoping Emma would give in and be the one to break the silence but that didn't seem likely.

Regina sighed, "Emma, I'm still mad that you lied to me… but I understand why you did."

Emma usually avoided talking about emotions at all costs but she knew this had to be done. "That doesn't excuse what I did, Regina. I'm sorry for that. I just, I really liked you and I was afraid if I said something it'd scare you and you'd never talk to me again. That first day we met, do you remember? I was standing outside your house?" Regina gave a nod. "You're the only person that's ever been able to see me. It freaked me out but I was so curious about you."

"You mean, I'm the only one that's ever talked to you since you died?" Regina couldn't believe it, how had she gone so long without any form of contact.

"Yeah, almost two years and you're the first one."

"I wonder what that means. Why can I see you?"

"No idea, and it's not like I can exactly google the answer. What would I say? 'How can human see ghost?'" The two laughed at the corny joke, eager to break the tension that's resided among them.

"That is true. I wish we had someone we could ask. And how can you touch things? Can you do anything else?"

"I have no idea! It's not like I've been a ghost before. I didn't receive _Ghost Training 101_. I must have skipped orientation." Emma let a smirk pull at her lips, delighted that she'd made Regina laugh.

Regina let her head fall back as she laughed at Emma's joke. It felt like forever since she had smiled and it felt wonderful to let some of the stress leave her body.

Emma remained silent as she watched the younger girl. The blonde couldn't get over just how striking Regina was. Her dark hair was pulled back in a loose braid that had mostly come undone in all of the commotion over the past few hours. Pink gloss-covered lips, parted to show just a hint of teeth and the tip of a tongue.

Emma had tried to control her feelings around Regina but every day they just continued to grow stronger. She wasn't one to pine after someone, especially if she had already been rejected, but something was different about her. It didn't matter that Regina didn't return her feelings; she just wanted to be close to her and make her happy.

Finally, Regina's laughter died down and she noticed how intensely Emma was staring at her. She swallowed hard and let out a soft breath, "Emma?"

Emma was still lost in thought and didn't hear Regina call her name. So she tried once more, this time putting her hand against Emma's cheek, leaning closer to her. "Emma… you in there?"

Once Regina's hand was pressed to the cool skin, Emma snapped out of it. Her eyes focused on the girl in front of her and they both simultaneously realized how close they were to each other. Emma noticed Regina's eyes dart down to look at her lips before again meeting her gaze. Emma's eyes copied the move and her tongue peeked out to wet her suddenly dry lips. The blonde moved a fraction closer to the other girl and hesitated, waiting for a response. When Regina's body mimicked hers she knew she had permission. She moved closer until she could feel Regina's soft breath on her lips, eyes locked until Regina felt a feather light kiss against her lips and her eyes closed.

Regina pressed closer to the blonde, needing to feel connected to her. Her hand was still on Emma's cheek and she caressed her thumb over the smooth skin. Their lips moved together, tasting each other. Emma's skin left Regina's lips tingling, whether from the kiss or because she was a ghost, she didn't know. Her whole body felt like it was filled with butterflies. Before she knew it, Emma was pulling away, both girls breathless.

"Regina? What was that? I thought-"

"I was wrong." Regina quickly blurted. "I realized that Daniel isn't who I wanted and I was just fooling myself, trying to be normal."

"You mean-"

"Yes. It's you, Emma." Regina nodded and she bit her lip as a small smile tried to break free.

Emma didn't give her a chance to prepare before she was kissing her again. Emma pulled Regina's braid free and tangled her fingers in the thick locks, pulling the girl ever closer. Regina's hands found the blonde's hips, holding on for support as she was pushed backwards by Emma's weight. The girls' legs tangled together as Emma brought her body on top of Regina's and Emma smiled into the kiss as Regina let out a sigh of satisfaction.

They broke apart only because breathing was a necessity, both chests heaving in unison. Emma broke the comfortable silence, "Regina, you know I love you, right?"

Regina nodded her head before speaking. "Yes, and I think… I think maybe I love you as well."

The biggest smile Regina had ever seen plastered itself across Emma's face. Emma had never felt loved, by anyone in her life and she was amazed that this girl could even begin to feel the same way towards her.

Emma rolled off of Regina, grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers and laid down next to her. They basked in each other's company until a gasp broke the silence. Regina turned her head to look at the blonde.

"What? What is it, are you okay?" Concern filled the brunette's eyes.

"I-I don't know. Something feels off. I don't know what it is…" Emma quiets, her face scrunched up in confusion. "I feel funny… Like something is pulling me."

"Pulling you where?! You mean like away? Like _leaving_?"

Emma turned to look at her beloved, eyes sad. "Yeah, I think so. It feels like love… and home; or what home should be."

Regina felt hot tears fall down her cheeks but they didn't stay long before Emma wiped them away. "I don't want you to go, Em. I don't want to be alone here."

"I'll always be here for you, even if you can't see me, alright? I won't leave you, not really." Emma's own tears were starting to fall but she didn't care. Regina was the one person she didn't mind crying in front of. "I'm not sure how much longer I can resist, it's starting to burn."

Emma's eyes clamped shut, fighting an internal battle to remain behind.

Regina watched, desperately wanting to help but knowing that there was nothing she could do. They were not meant to be together on this journey but their time would come, one day.

"Don't fight it, Em. I want you to be happy. You deserve a happy life, even if it is in the next one. But if this is my only chance, then… know that I will always love you, Emma. You deserve to be loved and I promise to find you again one day to do that."

Her words said, Regina squeezed their fingers together, part of her still unwilling to let her go. She continued to hold their locked hands until two became one and her own fingers curled into a fist.

Emma was gone.

If she really focused, she could just barely make out the faint whisper of an "I love you" before it was gone and she was once again the only girl in the clock tower.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, there you have it, I hope you enjoyed! Please, don't hesitate to comment and review if you liked it!**


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